Starting Anew
by VigoGrimborne
Summary: World War three is fast approaching, and everyone knows nuclear war is pretty much inevitable this time around. One team of scientists tasked with preserving intelligent life on Earth has a very unorthodox plan for doing that, but they're stuck. A seemingly unrelated discovery proves to be the final piece of the puzzle. Rated for light swearing, subject matter, rare violence.
1. Chapter 1

"Sir, he's here." The bodyguard who had spoken had just received the news from his earpiece. He looked to the current President of the United States for instructions. They were in the Oval Office, of course.

The President sighed. "Well, bring him in!" His successor was about to be inaugurated and now was the time said successor was to be briefed on everything going on with the country. Usually, the president didn't do such briefings himself, but the last few items only he knew about, so he had to.

A moment later, the future President of the United States walked into the room confidently. He was a southerner, who had been elected on a campaign of nuclear prevention and protection, whatever that really meant. It was such an important issue he had been the first third-party President to ever be elected. His name was Lewis Teller. He was deceptively intelligent, which was really the only thing about him that gave the current president hope.

The current President sighed. "This is the last of your briefings." He motioned for everyone else to leave the room. Even his security, which was highly unusual and a bit risky. "And it involves a few things that are so top-secret only the president and the people working on them know about it."

Teller sat down opposite the President. These briefings were usually quite dull, but this sounded more interesting. "I'm listening."

The President's mouth hardened into a flat line. "Listen well. I'm only going to say this once. You know of the current nuclear situation, correct?"

"Yes. North Korea's got the bomb, Russia's protecting them, Cuba is trying to arm themselves, half a dozen smaller countries managed to make one themselves without us knowing until it was too late, and so on. Another Cuban missile crisis, but the nukes are definitely already there this time around." He wasn't exaggerating. "I do have a plan to fix all that, just so you know." It was what Teller had run his entire campaign on.

"Maybe you do, but it might not be fixable. And if one country says 'screw it' and fires, the rest of the world follows suit in self-defense and retribution. Most of the world becomes a nuclear wasteland. So, with that in mind, the president before me diverted quite a bit of funding to a project. Ten projects, actually. Each one has unlimited resources, and some of the brightest minds in America or anywhere else on Earth. Each project is entirely independent of the others. The only thing they have in common is their goal. Preserve the future of intelligent life on Earth in event of nuclear war and its aftermath. They have no supervision save for annual reports delivered directly to the President. And they have unlimited funding."

Teller thought that it was a good backup in case he failed. His plan was anything but guaranteed to work. However... "What exactly are they doing?"

The President smiled. "Teams one, two, and three are constructing massive fallout shelters, designed to be self-sufficient in different ways. Teams four, five, six, and seven are working on various methods of preserving knowledge and animal species. Basically super-advanced seed banks and libraries. Team eight is working on a better way to build self-sufficient colonies on Mars, with the goal of the colonists eventually returning. Team nine is supposed to be working on a way to make humans genetically immune to radiation... but they say they've hit a wall, and are working on 'alternative solutions', whatever that means. Team ten is working on underwater habitation." Then he frowned. "The shelters probably won't be done in time, but the archives are coming along nicely. Team eight will probably never be done in time, and who knows what's going on with team nine. They have the most difficult task of all of them, but they seem confident, whatever their 'alternative solutions' are. Team ten is actually already done, and testing in the ocean near the Arctic as we speak. All under the highest security of course."

Teller felt inspired by all of these efforts. Humanity really was preparing, and not just sticking its proverbial head in the sand. "So, what obscure portion of our uncontrolled spending do I need to protect?"

The President laughed. "Social Security."

Teller's jaw dropped. "Really? You're funding all of this from people's pensions?" Then he thought about it. "Actually, given if I don't pull off a minor miracle nuclear war will probably erupt before the end of my term... well played."

The President returned to the serious matter at hand. "Just leave them alone, and hopefully eight or nine will bear fruit in time. They're used to working independently, so you can really just forget about them and concentrate on preventing a war altogether."

Teller nodded. It was nice to have a backup plan, but he wanted to save the world, not prepare to live in the aftermath. He would keep the programs funded, and keep anyone from investigating them. It might be slightly illegal to do that, but it was for the greater good. He idly wondered, as they wrapped up the meeting, what team nine's 'alternative solutions' were.

* * *

"Well, we're screwed. That's the bottom line, right? We're screwed." Skyler Hermanez was not at all optimistic as her co-researcher finished up presenting her results to the group. Normally, she might have considered herself overreacting, but there seemed no way around the problem at hand. The entirety of research team nine was backed into a conceptual corner.

"It's not that bad..." Iris Trovich tried to sound optimistic, but she privately agreed with her second-in-command. However, as the de-facto leader of the group, she had to keep morale high.

"Not that bad? We already know it's not possible to modify human DNA to make us immune to radiation. We don't have anything other than our skin to work with as a shield. So, we decided to go a completely different path. But now you tell us we can't just design a new body structure from scratch, because to make one we need a living subject. That's impossible, because we can't get a living subject without making one first, and we can't make one without a living subject. It's a freaking paradox!"

A third team member chimed in. Abdul Scalonsky was a brilliant geneticist, but a fairly shy man in his mid-thirties. "That limits us to body types that already exist. But we need something sapient. And we're the only sapient creatures on the planet. The only ones this smart. Even dolphins aren't close enough." He slumped. "So we really are screwed."

Iris wasn't going to take this sitting down. "Alright, everyone. No matter how bad this looks, we need to keep thinking." She addressed the group of scientists as a whole. "So we need something extremely intelligent, and it needs to have some sort of natural defense we can modify to defend against ambient radiation."

There were somewhere above twenty people in the room, and not a single one had an idea. They had been working on this project for years, only to now come to the discovery that creating a new, radiation-proof body to transfer human consciousness into wouldn't work. Not the transfer part, they already had that figured out. The creating a stable new body part.

Iris saw that they were getting nowhere, and switched tactics. "I'm pulling everyone from their individual tasks to work on this. We'll meet again when someone has something, anything. No matter how likely it is to work if you have an idea I want to hear it."

The meeting broke up, the scientists heading back to their workspaces to start brainstorming. Iris wasn't worried about anyone slacking off. They were all dedicated to this project. Besides, they were in a self-sufficient bunker in the middle of Alaska. Not much else to do. She met up with Skyler outside of the meeting room. "Not the end of the world."

Skyler laughed at that. "Except that's the whole reason we're here." She saw Iris's concerned expression. "Don't worry, I'm not giving up. In fact, I had an idea where to start searching."

Iris was intrigued. "Where?"

Skyler shrugged. "It's a stupid idea, but we could check if the other research teams have anything we could use. Four through Seven are on saving pretty much everything, right? In vaults. We can go through their stock and see if anything pops out." She smiled sarcastically. "Although I'm still pretty sure we're the only intelligent species on the planet. Maybe they have a few aliens stored away somewhere."

A few hours later, both women were bored. They had been looking through the databases of the vaults through their top-level security clearance. Being on one of these teams gave immediate access to the highest level of government clearance. Which meant being able to see what the other teams were doing, not that anyone usually cared.

Iris was leaning back in her chair. She was a young woman in her mid-twenties. A bit young for this job, but she was a brilliant biologist and technician. She had been the second-in-command for the previous director before he died of a stroke. So she was the one most suited to take over. Not that she had really wanted to. She didn't enjoy being in charge, even if she was the best person for the job.

Skyler was also bored, but she decided to do something about it. She navigated through the files of the other groups. She stopped at one in particular from group ten. "Hey, aren't these guys setting up in the Arctic right now?"

Iris looked over at her friend's screen. "Yeah, why?"

"I think this is the live feed. Wanna watch for a few minutes?"

Iris had nothing better to do. "Sure." She wheeled her chair around to get a better view of Skyler's screen. She watched as Skyler accessed the video and communication feeds.

Suddenly they could hear the chatter of the crew of team ten's construction division. They could also see the feed from the underwater construction machines team ten had specifically designed for this mission. They watched as team ten worked. The idea was that underwater living areas would be cheaper and quicker to build in bulk than fallout shelters. The team was setting up in the Arctic to avoid notice. But that meant dealing with the random ice. The team had apparently planned with that in mind because they were at the moment drilling into a massive iceberg.

All was well for a few minutes. Skyler had switched the view to that of the drilling machine. There was something hypnotic about watching it cut into a massive block of ice that had probably been there for centuries. Then the comms from the team actually there exploded.

"Wait, what the hell is that?!"

"What are you screaming about?"

"Everyone calm down! It's probably just a frozen shark or something. Greg, cut towards it." The tone of that voice suggested that the speaker was trying to hold in excitement.

Skyler and Iris had seen what the men on the cutting machine had seen.

Iris stared at the screen, unwilling to move. She addressed Skyler. "That is definitely not a shark." She saw Skyler nod out of the corner of her eye. They had both spent the last few hours looking at pretty much every living creature in existence. That was no shark.

As the cutting machine grew closer, a very strange and, at least to the eyes of a biologist, wonderful creature was slowly revealed through the refractions of the ice, still entirely encased in ice.

Iris had seen a Mammoth before, frozen like this. But this was something she hadn't known existed at all. This was a black reptile, about the size of a medium-sized car. And it seemed to have wings. They were wrapped around the body of the creature as if it was curling in on itself. Because of that, she couldn't see how many legs it had. The head also seemed to be tucked inside the wings, and the creature seemed as if it had been frozen trying to protect itself, huddled into a ball. A massive, black, reptilian cocoon.

Iris's heart immediately felt pity. It seemed to have been frozen in a moment of terror. Then her mind connected something. Just last year, a frozen mammoth had been discovered. Scientists had devised a plan to revive it, but the government had shut them down. She could see that the team here was going to extract this thing, still in the ice. If they brought it back, the same thing might happen. More than likely, it would be broken out and dissected to study, like the mammoth was. The government always liked the safer option.

But Iris, after only knowing about this thing for a few seconds, didn't want that to happen. She turned quickly to Skyler. "You know how this will play out."

Skyler nodded, her face darkening. "Just like that Mammoth." It had been a massive news story, and neither of them had been happy with that particular event. "And with something we didn't even know exists."

Iris smiled. "But right now, we are the only ones who know about it. Us, and team ten. And they won't say anything until they have it safely in their grasp." She motioned to the screen, where team ten was carefully cutting around the creature. It would be hours before they extracted the chunk of ice containing it. The implication was obvious. Team nine had doctors, biologists, and geneticists. And all the equipment that went with those professions, all state-of-the-art. As well as some more exotic equipment for their specific purpose. "It probably won't help with our problem, but shouldn't we at least try?"

Skyler met her eyes. She smiled. "Of course!"

Iris triggered the intercom system. "Ladies and gentlemen, something just happened. Get to my office NOW!" She turned the intercom off. "If they agree, then we'll try to get team ten to send it to us. If they do, we can try." She laughed. "We might as well."

Once the entirety of team nine had piled into the helpfully quite large office, Iris addressed them. "This isn't about our mission. Team ten just discovered something, frozen in a block of ice. Something that no one has ever seen before." She pulled up the clearest image of the frozen black reptile they had. There was a gasp from the rest of the team, and then silence. The mood in the room immediately darkened.

Someone spoke up. "Too bad it'll just be dissected." His voice was bitter.

Iris grinned. That was what she was hoping would be the reaction. "Actually, we wanted to know if you guys would be willing to try and revive it here. Right now, no one knows about it, and we have top security clearance. If team ten agrees, we can get it here in secret. And we have the facilities to try and revive it." She thought of something. "And the facilities to safely contain it too." The bunker had several quite large holding cells, in case genetic experiments went wrong. Not to mention twenty geniuses in various fields. They were as qualified as anyone to handle this, it just wasn't exactly what they were supposed to be doing. But what they were supposed to be doing had hit a dead end anyway.

There was a cheer. The decision was entirely unanimous. Some of them cared more than others, but they all wanted to do something good that they actually had a chance of completing.

Iris gestured for quiet. "I'm going to patch us into their communications. Let me do the talking."

She did so. "Hello, I need to speak to the leader of team ten. This is team nine."

The reply was almost instant. "What the heck is team nine doing here?" That was a man with a deep Scottish accent.

Iris blushed. "We happened to be watching your progress. We're kind of at a dead end, so it was a nice change of pace to see success." She figured some flattery wouldn't hurt. "And we saw what you discovered. Do you remember the Mammoth?"

There was almost an inaudible growl. "Aye, that I do. A dark day for science and human decency that was." His tone grew suspicious. "Why do you ask?"

Now was the test. "That thing should be brought back. But the politicians won't let that happen. If they knew. My team is capable of doing it ourselves. We request that you send it to us, and not tell anybody else."

The voice was almost hopeful. "You think you really can?"

"Yes." Iris gestured to the crowd in her office to prepare them. "Don't we?" That was directed at the crowd. They responded with a massive affirmative shout that was clearly audible through the microphone. They understood their part in doing the convincing.

"Yeesh, ya didn't have to deafen me. I get yer point." There was a minute of silence, as team ten discussed it. Then there was a reply. "We'll send it over to you, still frozen. And as far as everyone else is concerned, we never found anything. Good luck. Oh, and send pictures if you do manage to bring it back. We wanna see exactly what it is we found. Just a black lump right now."

Everyone in the overcrowded office sighed in relief. Iris and the leader of team ten worked out the details. The ice chunk would have to be delivered by special cooler vans, given its size. They estimated it would get to the bunker of team nine in about two weeks. That gave them two weeks to prepare.

Skyler was grinning wildly. "We're completely breaking the law, you know that right?" Her tone of voice suggested she didn't care.

Iris shrugged. "So? I'd happily go to jail to save a life. Especially one no one even knew existed." That brought up another question. "What is it anyway? Reptilian, judging by the scales, but it definitely has wings. That's pretty much all we can tell before defrosting it."

Skyler laughed happily. "Maybe a dinosaur, or some ancient alien? But I'm thinking something else. Something else entirely." Her voice grew low. "What mythical creature is present in pretty much every culture's lore?"

Iris knew the answer to that. "Descriptions vary wildly, but... dragons. But we've never found any proof they ever existed."

Skyler walked away. As she went, she threw one parting shot over her shoulder. "I think we just did!"

They had three weeks. Three weeks to prepare to hopefully save a life, and answer that question. It was going to be a short three weeks, that was for sure.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **A few pieces of information.**

 **First, this story, as with all of my stories (barring** ** _Namesake_** **), is complete. So no matter what, it will be updated on schedule and not abandoned. It consists of twenty-three chapters, including the epilogue. Updates will occur once a week on Thursdays.**

 **In regards to the story itself, I tried to balance the sci-fi aspects. So in the future, if something seems overly simplified for you technologically-inclined readers, feel free to point it out. But know that it was likely a conscious decision on my part to 'dumb it down' so as to not distract from the story itself. So I'll likely respond with the full logical and complicated original explanation that I skipped in favor of 'they thought of that and figured out a solution, no need to mention it'.**

 **Finally, there might be some badly done attempts at writing romance contained within. By badly done, I mean I think I stink at writing that particular facet of life. Humor me by remembering that the movies opted to skip over that particular part almost entirely. So I can't do any worse. And that's not really the main focus of the story anyway, though it is a part of it.**


	2. Chapter 2

The three weeks had indeed passed far too quickly, but also too slowly. Too quickly for the people directly involved in preparing for the upcoming operation, and too slowly for everyone who had any free time to think. Quite understandably, everyone was at the massive entrance to the bunker when the freezer truck and its cargo arrived. They immediately sprung into action.

The ice was maneuvered down to the room in which the operation would take place. Even for such a massive chunk of ice, that wasn't as hard as one would expect. The bunker had been built with the very unlikely possibility of needing larger animals, such as elephants, in mind. Its creator really had planned for every possibility, as he had known how ridiculously complicated the goal of this place was. As a result, the corridors and doorways were all just large enough to maneuver the ice through, after shaving off some of the excess. They had lowered the internal temperature of most of the bunker in preparation for this, and as such there was no danger of the ice melting before they were ready. It took almost all of the scientists (none of whom were particularly strong) and the truck drivers to push the ice block to the operating room. The truck drivers stayed. They were members of team nine, and they had requested to witness the entire thing.

Iris had had no reason or desire to refuse. She, as a biologist and as such, would only be participating in an advisory capacity and had no problem with them watching. This was going to be a historic event.

Once the block was in place, they took a moment just to stare at the contents. The animal had black scales. That was pretty much the only thing they could really tell thanks to the curled up position of the creature in question. Pretty much everything of interest was tucked inside the cocoon formed by the wings and back.

Iris clapped her hands. "Let's get started!" That set everyone into motion. The first step was to melt the excess ice. This was accomplished by use of low-intensity lasers first, which carved away all but the closest chunk of ice around the creature. Those not involved with the procedure quickly removed the chunks of pure ice that had been cut off.

The next step involved high-powered heaters thawing the rest of the creature. Right now it was technically dead, or just really deep in hibernation. Once it thawed enough, they would shock its heart back into function. They needed it to be entirely thawed to do that, or that step would burst the creature's heart as it tried to pump blood through frozen veins. The reason this operation really only worked on frozen things was that after about an hour of death, the brain was unrecoverable. But if it was frozen, that clock stopped. Defrosting this thing would restart that clock. But they had time.

Things were going according to plan. The animal was almost entirely defrosted, and as they watched, the wings fell limp as the animal unfroze.

That was when things got complicated.

"WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Someone had voiced the general thought running through pretty much everyone's head as they caught a glimpse of something the creature had been holding safely in its frozen embrace. A person, just as frozen and just as preserved as the animal was. This was not something they had been expecting.

Skyler was the first to recover. "Whoever he is, it doesn't matter right now." She addressed the group. "Will this work to save him too?"

The doctor in charge nodded. "He should actually be easier, we know where his heart is. And he seems to have been just as flash-frozen." She was slightly in shock, but that didn't stop her from going right up to the person and pulling him from the surprisingly tight grasp of the reptile. She laid him out on a nearby table.

Iris noted from her stunned position that the person in question was wearing a prosthetic leg, among other things. One made of metal. She quickly reached over and detached it. "Probably not the best idea to have that on when you're going to shock him back to life."

A few minutes later, both of them were defrosted entirely. And they both were dead. For the moment, at least. That biological timer was ticking again, and they needed to move quickly. About ten minutes in brain damage was guaranteed, and that timer had probably started a minute or so ago.

The doctors hurriedly split into two teams and enlisted a few bystanders to help because they suddenly were short on hands. The team over at the human had a straightforward job. A simple shock to the heart, wait a few seconds, and then repeat. Doable using a medical device invented decades ago, a defibrillator.

On the other hand, the team working on the reptile had a much more complex task. They didn't know where its heart was. So, in the weeks prior to this operation, the technical side of the team had devised a solution. They needed to apply a shock to the heart, but they didn't know where it was. So, they'd just shock the entire body, except of course the head, and hit it that way. The device was designed to do exactly that. It seemed like something out of a torture scene in a movie, but it was the only fast and efficient way to shock a heart, or possibly several hearts, that they didn't know the location of.

The reptile revived first. The large creature's chest started rising and falling slowly of its own accord. The team of scientists would celebrate later. Right now, they moved it onto an oversized gurney and transported it to a medical wing, which was designed specifically to monitor the vitals of animals without physically attaching anything. It was also reinforced, with a one-way window. They left the reptile there and made sure it was stable. It was expected for anything revived in this fashion to sleep off the lingering effects, a process that might take several days for a creature this size. Whatever it was.

Meanwhile, the team working to revive the human was slowly giving up hope. But at what must have been the twentieth shock, they succeeded in restarting his heart as well. There was a general sigh of relief. The team members from team ten were just as shocked as everyone else. After the human had been moved to his own room, the team gathered in front of the one-way window looking into the reptile's room. The vitals were all steady, and from what they could tell, both patients would make a full recovery in time.

Iris turned to face the group. She took in the tired, ecstatic, and slightly shocked faces in front of her. "Well, we just saved two lives. Given we were only expecting one, I'd say we did much better than expected. Congratulations, we just brought back an extinct species!" She acknowledged the members of team ten. "And your decision to give it to us saved the life of a fellow human. There can be no doubt now your team made the right choice."

One of the two members of team ten had a question, which he voiced excitedly. "But what is it? And why did it have a human with it in the first place?"

Iris remembered her first impression of the creature, when it had been curled into a ball around... what must have been the human. "It might have been predatory, or chance, but it looked like..." She didn't know how to say this without sounding silly. "...it looked like it was protecting him."

The scientists had seen too much to discount that. They all stared silently at the creature whose life they had saved.

It was of course still unconscious and laying on its stomach. From this new position, they could see that it was lithe and muscular, reminiscent of a jungle cat. It had four legs. The most awe-inspiring part was the head, which looked like nothing they had ever seen. It was smooth and shaped almost like a spade. The eyelids were proportionally large, and of course, closed at the moment. The thing had what looked like two main ears, and multiple strange flaps of skin between and under the ears along the border of the skull and back of the jaw. It also had a tail, and two small secondary wings at the base of said tail. At the end of the tail, there was a solitary fin, clearly unsymmetrical, in contrast to the rest of the creature.

"I have no idea what it is." That was Skyler. Her specialty was chemistry and language, not biology or identifying unknown creatures.

As a biologist, Iris knew that it was a reptile... and that was about it. But she was pretty sure now what they would be calling it. "I think it's a dragon."

Skyler jumped slightly at the mention of the half-serious joke she had made a few weeks ago.

Iris continued. "It's a flying reptile. We might as well call it a dragon."

The shy geneticist spoke up. "We could just ask the guy when he wakes up."

Everyone turned to stare at him.

He held his hands up defensively. "Not the dragon, the human! He would probably know, right? He was frozen with the thing."

At that, the group on some unspoken decision moved to the human's recovery room. No one actually went in. As part of the medical facilities, it was across the observation room, directly opposite the observational window. The human in question had been hooked up to traditional medical equipment for coma patients.

As Iris saw this, she realized they were going to have problems when this guy woke up. "Uh... someone's going to have to be around here at all times." She took a moment to examine the man they had brought back from the dead.

He was wearing a strange set of leather armor, which had been as perfectly preserved as he had. He had brown hair and a slight scar on his chin.

Iris figured from the armor and the unknown identity of the dragon that these two had been frozen quite a while ago. "And he probably won't like all this stuff attached to him when he wakes up." She gestured to the IV, heart monitor, and various other medical devices. "So we can't have him alone when he wakes up."

Skyler interrupted her. "And we have no idea what language he speaks. I'll try to figure that out in the meantime." She seemed satisfied that there was something she could do.

At that, Iris snapped back to reality. "Okay, everyone. It'll probably a few days before either of them wakes up. In the meantime, feel free to observe the dragon. We should also try to figure out what it eats, if possible. Skyler will work on a list of possible languages this guy speaks, and I'll set up a rotational watch to make sure someone is around when he wakes up. The rest of you, well..." She knew it would be impossible for them to go back to their old unsolvable problem right now. "Take a few days off. I know no one will be able to concentrate, myself included." There was a ragged cheer at this, though it sounded half-hearted. They were all thinking about what would happen.

It took a few hours for everyone to get tired at staring at the creature they had brought back from the dead. Eventually, only Iris, the two men from team ten, and the geneticist were still there.

"Iris." One of the men from team ten was speaking. "Would you mind if we stayed here? At least until they wake up."

Iris smiled warmly. "Of course, you can stay as long as you want. I would never push a scientist away from their own discoveries. What are your names?"

The taller man with dark hair spoke first. "I'd be Stan Johnson. I'm a biologist. One of the few on our team, for dealing with ocean life."

The other man was shorter, almost stocky, and had long blond hair. "And I'm Brett Hadley, geologist." He seemed to be a man of few words.

"It is nice to meet you, Brett and Stan." Iris shook their hands. "We have a few spare rooms, anyone can show you to them." She took an educated guess. "And the cafeteria is down the hall, on the left."

Both men thanked her and left immediately, headed to the cafeteria. She smiled. She was hungry too, but she couldn't tear herself away from the sight of the creature they had saved. The geneticist stood in silence with her. Eventually, he spoke.

"Iris... I don't believe in fate. And this is just a guess. But look at it." He seemed to be speaking almost automatically, as if in a trance. He was still staring at the dragon as he spoke. "It looks really intelligent."

Iris had to wonder at that. Clearly, there was no way to judge intelligence by physical characteristics. But there was something there. Maybe it was the way in which the dragon's claws ever so slightly twitched or the fact that it clearly had massive eyes under those eyelids. She didn't know why, but in her heart, she agreed with the geneticist's guess. Abdul was right. "Yes, it does. I don't know why, but it does."

Abdul was quiet for a moment. "But just how intelligent?"

Iris knew what he was wondering. But the odds of some creature they randomly found in the ice being intelligent enough for what they needed... "Don't get your hopes up." She said this kindly. "It's probably about as smart as a dog if that." She was trying to convince herself of that. It wasn't good to raise hopes.

Two days later, and both mystery patients were showing signs of life, though neither had woken up. The man would sporadically toss and turn, for no apparent reason. He was no longer in a coma, just deep sleep. As for the dragon...

"What are we looking at?" Iris stood in front of the window. She was watching the sleeping dragon, with a doctor next to her.

"Elevated heartbeat and stress levels. Some involuntary movement. That's about it from a scientific standpoint. It always goes back to normal in a few minutes." The doctor's voice was soft and almost sad. "But from a non-medical standpoint..."

Iris watched as the dragon grimaced in its sleep and flexed its claws, seemingly searching for something that wasn't there. She had heard from one of the other doctors that it had even whined once in these fits. All while asleep. She certainly knew what it looked like. "Nightmares." Not something one would ever expect from a predatory creature, which this so clearly was.

"Yes, that is what I'd guess. Nothing we can do about those." The doctor seemed to want to change the subject. "Has Skyler put together a list of possible languages yet?"

Iris grimaced. Skyler had just updated her on that. "Yes, and it's a big list. Everything from dialects of African tribes to Old Norse. We were able to carbon-date the man's clothing to about a thousand years ago. But we have no idea where in the world he comes from."

The doctor laughed. "This puts Captain America to shame." She saw the bemused expression on Iris's face and quickly elaborated. "In the comics, he was frozen in the ice for seventy years or so. This guy was in there for a thousand years. He's the oldest man alive, technically." She smirked. "Not too bad looking for a thousand-year-old man."

Iris blushed. "He's only been awake for what looks to be about twenty of those years, so he's still younger than you." The doctor in question was in her mid-forties.

"True." The doctor didn't seem at all put out by Iris reminding her of that. "There. The nightmare is over now." She was looking back at the dragon.

Iris saw that the doctor was correct. The dragon had stopped twitching, and its face was no longer scrunched up. It might have been her imagination, but it didn't look like it was sleeping so deeply anymore. She glanced at the heartbeat monitor and saw that she was right. It was in a slightly lighter sleep now. It would wake up soon.

Iris had volunteered for the night watch in the medical wing, and Skyler had joined her. They sat in the room between the viewing window and the man's room. Iris was reading, while Skyler was doing something slightly more useful. And much more annoying. Iris winced at the mechanical voice that broke the silence in a preprogrammed statement. "What language was that one?"

Skyler fiddled with her tablet. "I hit one by accident, so I don't actually know." She pressed the tablet intentionally, and it spoke up in another language. "That was latin."

"So you're going to just run through the list until the guy responds?"

"essentially. Once we know which language it is, I can hook up some of these translators for us." Skyler hefted a set of earpieces. "Won't need to learn it, these will translate for him." She hefted her tablet. "And this will translate for us. We speak, and the tablet spits out the equivalent in whatever his language is." She frowned. "Though once we know what it is, I'll probably learn it myself. This tablet isn't perfect. I'd rather talk without any intermediaries."

Iris moved over to the man's room. She looked in and saw that he was still asleep. She returned to the main room. "What do you think his story is?"

Skyler idly fiddled with the tablet as she responded. "Could be anything. Kinda hard to guess when we know nothing about him." She indicated the dragon. "Did we ever figure out what it eats?"

Iris nodded. That had been an easy question to answer, a simple X-ray of the dragon's stomach gave a very clear answer. Although the X-ray itself had raised more questions. No one else knew about that yet. "Fish. That seems to be about it. There are a bunch of fishbones in there, and not much else." She had had to go out and order a massive shipment of fresh fish from a local fishery. That shipment was currently stinking up a previously-unused storage room. "It's definitely a carnivore if we couldn't tell that just by looking at it. The only thing in its stomach right now is fish, so fish seemed like a safe bet. But we can't be sure just from the current contents of its stomach."

Skyler grimaced. "Yeah, still a chance that guy was going to be its next meal." She looked over at the room holding the man. "I wish he'd wake up already. He can answer a lot of our questions."

Iris wished the man would wake up too. They were really just waiting now. And ideally, the man would wake up first so that he could tell them exactly what was asleep in the other room. They didn't even dare to enter the room to perform any tests or measurements. Sedating an unknown creature in a coma was too risky, as was going in when it wasn't sedated. So no further tests could be run at the moment. Iris looked at the steel door that led into the dragon's room. It hadn't been opened since they put it in there. Although, they were going to need to figure out how to clean that room, once it woke up and started functioning normally again. They were so starved for information, she would probably have ten volunteers to shovel dragon dung when the time came.

Skyler was looking into the dragon's room now. "I think I saw it move." She said this lightly. "That always scares-" She cut off with a sharp inhale.

Iris jumped up and turned. Skyler was staring directly at the dragon. Whose eye had just slid open. It couldn't see them, thanks to the one-way glass, but it happened to be staring directly at them just the same. It was finally awake.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note:**_ **First on the list, this story has acquired a Beta, toothlessgolfer. Any increase in quality from this point on is likely his doing. Many thanks. I should say that if you want even higher quality writing, check him out.** _ **Brothers Of Night**_ **is amazing, in every way.**

 **For the helpful reviewer who said: "YOU DO NOT SHOCK ASYSTOLE YOU USE CARDIAC RESUSCITATION DRUGS. With that rant outa the way, nice start."**

 **... whoops. This might be a good time to explain that I wrote the entirety of this without fact-checking anything (no wifi at the time). I probably should do that at some point. However, using drugs on an unknown creature might not have been the safest idea, especially when they were working with such a short timeframe. Just an alternative explanation, because I really don't feel like going back and rewriting that. And the shocking machine might be minorly important later on, so I do kinda need it around.**

The dragon was awake. As Iris watched, its pupils slowly expanded from the slits they had been to something near rounded black squares immersed in a sea of vivid green flaked with sliver. Then the dragon lurched to its feet. It spun around frantically, scanning the entire room with extremely wide eyes. But it didn't stop. It seemed to be searching for something. The noise inside the room was being relayed to them by a microphone. They could hear whining from the inside of the room. The dragon seemed to be having a full on panic attack.

"What's it doing?" Skyler whispered despite the soundproof glass.

Iris had no idea. No animal would be acting like this. Especially something that had to be at the top of the food chain. Aggression and anger were what she had been expecting. That was what would be normal. This, this was not normal. "I don't know."

The dragon eventually calmed down, but it didn't switch to aggression. Instead, it simply moaned and put its head on its paws. It stopped moving.

Iris was drawn by that action to look closer at its paws. They were surprisingly flexible, from what she could see, with independent claws that seemed capable of fairly precise movement.

"Is that it?" Skyler seemed confused now. "It gets agitated, can't find whatever it's looking for, and just..." Her voice trailed off as she made a connection. "Gives up?" She stared at Iris. "You know what it's looking for, don't you?"

Iris had a suspicion, but the biologist in her overruled it. "It probably isn't looking for anything in particular. Just trying to figure out where it is now." She didn't believe that herself though. The way this thing acted, it was definitely searching for something. And now... She looked again. The dragon was still not moving. Its eyes were still closed, head on its paws in... despair. Mourning. All of the words Iris could think of to describe this picture were ill-favored by science. They were words of personification. But no matter how she tried, Iris could only think of this dragon's behavior in ways that suggested it was an intelligent creature. Its behavior made no sense for a mere animal.

"Iris?" Skyler had turned away from the window, and now she sounded worried. "We might have another problem."

Iris turned and saw that the man in the other room was waking up. She wondered if the sounds from the speaker woke him. "Skyler, get ready." They both quickly moved over to the bedside.

Skyler picked up her tablet and the earpieces. She put one in and handed the other to Iris, who did the same. "Once I figure out what language he speaks, I'll set the earpieces to translate from here." She tapped the tablet, which lit up as she unlocked it. "Just try to keep him calm."

Iris briefly wondered if they should get help. But there was no time. She watched as the man slowly opened his eyes. He also had green eyes, she noticed.

There was a moment in which the man flailed wildly, striking at everything within reach. Iris winced as his arm made contact with one of the various metal components of the medical devices with a dull thud. That seemed to break him out of his moment of pure panic, at least. His eyes narrowed, and he seemed to register his surroundings for the first time.

After a few moments the man said something softly, then made eye contact with both of them individually. He seemed deadly serious.

Skyler began playing her preset message in different languages. The monotone voice of the tablet broke the silence gratingly.

The man listened intently, but there was no sign of recognition in his eyes. That abruptly changed at one of the repetitions. His eyes widened, and he responded immediately in the same language.

Skyler laughed. "Got it. Old Norse, apparently." She tapped a button on her tablet, and the earpieces crackled to life.

"Translating..."

Iris could hear the voice in her ear as the computer configured.

"Old Norse to English set."

She looked over to Skyler, who had set the tablet down and was giving her a thumbs up. Communication was established. She turned to face the man. "Hello. We mean you no harm." The tablet repeated her phrase in Old Norse a second later, though it was a fairly stilted translation. The software was good, but not perfect.

The man stared at the tablet, then at Iris. He spoke, and both women in the room heard the translated statement a moment later. "I knew it, I'm dead."

Skyler laughed. "No, not quite."

The man's face immediately hardened. "If I'm not dead, where is he?" His actual words sounded worried. At the look of confusion on both the women's faces, he continued. "Where is my dragon?"

Iris wasn't sure how to respond to that. In her confusion, she went with the truth. "In the other room. He was panicking, so it might not be safe to-" She abruptly stopped when the man pulled the IV out of his arm. "Hey, you shouldn't-"

The man ignored her and Skyler and rushed out of the room. They followed quickly. Iris realized that they probably should have had a taser or something, in case the guy got hostile. But he seemed more worried than anything.

The man had stopped in front of the window. He seemed stumped momentarily, trying to find a way in. Then he noticed the door, and before anyone could stop him, he figured out how to open it.

Skyler cursed. "We should have locked that!" She was staring in horror at the now ajar door leading right into a room with a stressed and likely hungry carnivorous lizard.

Iris wasn't trying to stop the man anymore. She was staring at the window, her jaw dropping in shock.

Skyler turned to face her. "Were you going to help me stop him, or..." She noticed Iris's expression and turned to look at the window.

The man was embracing the massive lizard in what seemed to be a hug. And the dragon was returning the gesture, sitting on its hind legs. Then the dragon sat back down and started licking the man in the face. He laughed, and wiped the spit off as best he could, before flicking it back at the dragon.

"That is probably the most insane thing I've ever seen." Skyler's voice was high-pitched. "And the most awesome thing ever."

Iris was more interested in what her earpiece was translating for her. What the man was saying to the dragon.

"I'm happy to see you too bud. We'll catch up later. Right now, I have no idea where we are."

The dragon immediately growled and curled its tail protectively around the man.

"Yeah, agreed. Whenever that happens, we usually end up having to fight our way out." The man bent over and pulled something off of his prosthetic leg. It looked like a sword hilt.

Iris stared at Skyler. "Did we ever search him?" She didn't think so. In retrospect, they should have. To be fair, the man was by far the less interesting of the two patients, so it made sense they would forget something like that.

The man in the room with the dragon turned to face the wall he must know was a window from the other end. "Whoever you are, any harm to him **,** " he gestured at the dragon, "is harm to me. Do you still mean no harm?" His voice dropped. He looked over the dragon quickly. "Great. We didn't exactly have time to grab your tail, did we?"

The dragon deliberately shook its head **,** clearly in response to the man's question.

Skyler looked like she was going to faint at that. She grabbed Iris's arm. "Did you see that?"

Iris was too preoccupied with something else the man had said. She really didn't want to see a Norseman and a dragon of unknown capabilities try to fight their way out of the bunker. "Skyler, we need to tell him we aren't a threat. Now, before he decides we are."

Skyler caught on. She grabbed the tablet that was translating for them and walked hesitantly towards the door.

Iris followed her. With a deep breath, they carefully entered the room while trusting the dragon and man to not attack on sight.

Skyler quickly set the tablet down on the floor and backed away. "We still mean no harm. To either of you."

The dragon actually snorted at that message once it was translated. The dragon and man were on one side of the tablet, and the two scientists were on the other. It was almost a standoff, except one side was undoubtedly far more dangerous than the other.

Iris felt she had to continue. "You both were found frozen in ice. We were able to revive you." She expected looks of disbelief and confusion at that.

Instead, the man looked at the dragon. He spoke for both of them. "We've seen that before, but only once. With a Skrill, who had likely been frozen for decades." The dragon and man both winced at that statement. "How long?" There was an undertone of fear in that question, and the man seemed to be bracing himself.

Skyler stared at them. She looked at Iris, the unspoken questions obvious in her confusion. What was a Skrill?

Iris decided to ignore the questions she too wanted answered. "A very long time. By our estimates, about... A thousand years, give or take."

Skyler jerked her head around. "Why did you tell them that? That isn't exactly an 'oh by the way' update. More of the 'life-shattering' variety!"

The man laughed. "A thousand years. Right." He turned to the dragon. "Bud, do I look especially gullible today? Because they seem to expect me to believe..." He noticed that the dragon's ears were down, and its face a picture of misery. "But they aren't lying, are they..." He turned back to the two women. "A thousand years. We've been frozen for a thousand years." It wasn't a question, but his tone made it one.

Iris nodded sadly. "Yes. We managed to bring you back after we thawed you both out."

The man sat down and leaned against the dragon seemingly by habit. He toyed with the strange sword hilt in his hand. "So that means... Everyone is gone. My family, our home, our village... all gone. A thousand years is a very long time." He snapped. "Gods damn it! Everyone is gone! Stoick and half the village weren't enough, Drago had to take everything we knew too?! And now even he's gone. He's been gone for hundreds of years."

There was silence for a moment, as Hiccup lowered his head, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "Astrid is dead, mom is dead, everyone we know is dead. If Drago didn't kill them with the rest of Berk, time did."

Iris was really regretting letting the man know this particular fact. She was also regretting that one of the few skills not in abundance in the bunker was psychiatry. It would really come in handy to have an experienced psychiatrist right about now.

Skyler spoke up. "We are sorry for your loss. But right now, there are a few things we need to know." She gestured to them. "So that we can deal with all of this."

The dragon had curled up around the man, and it nudged him with its head. The man blinked. "Right, I'll just deal with the loss of everything I've ever known except my best friend later." That was sarcastic. "What do you need to know?"

Iris took over. "Your names, to start with."

The man stared at her. "I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third. And this is Toothless." He gestured to the dragon head now laying under his arm.

The dragon warbled in greeting.

Skyler seemed to be trying not to burst into laughter. "Okay... I'm Skyler, and this is Iris."

Iris was a bit too shocked to fully process the ridiculous names just yet. "Alright. And what exactly does Toothless eat?" She really hoped it wasn't humans, although that would be a very weird thing for the best friend of a human to eat.

"Fish. Just fish, really."

The dragon perked up at that. He looked at the two women questioningly.

Iris was still trying to determine the intelligence of the dragon, and every new action seemed to make that harder and harder to do. "And he won't attack us?" She really hoped he wouldn't, although she hoped the same for the man himself as well. He certainly hadn't seemed unprepared at the prospect of fighting their way out of here.

"Don't threaten him or me and he won't have a reason to. He's protective, but not aggressive without cause." The man scratched the dragon's head. "And the same goes for me."

Iris sighed in relief. "Well, we have about a thousand more questions, but those can wait. You two are both safe here."

The man slumped. "Great." He looked around for a minute. "Wait, what time is it? I really can't tell here, wherever 'here' is."

Skyler checked her watch. "The middle of the night."

The man smiled slightly. "Well, can we resume this discussion in the morning?"

Iris nodded. "Sure. Your bed in the other room-"

The man cut her off. "I'll sleep here." His tone brooked no argument. He didn't wait for an answer.

The dragon seemed to take that as a cue of some sort, as it settled down. It kept the man in the center of its curled form and made sure it was facing the door. It rumbled contentedly, and then made eye contact with Iris. It growled ever so slightly. The message was clear. Don't mess with him or me if you value your life.

Skyler was already backing out of the room. "We'll bring food in the morning." She and Iris beat a hasty exit. Skyler quickly retrieved the tablet on the way out.

Iris stopped in front of the window and watched as Skyler shut the door carefully behind her, locking it using the control panel. That struck Iris as funny. "Will that really help? They seem entirely capable of breaking through the reinforced window if they wanted to."

Skyler laughed bitterly. "This is just for my peace of mind. At least we'll have warning if that guy decides to snoop around."

Iris looked back through the window. She saw that Hiccup was... crying softly. Apparently, the reality of his situation was catching up to him. He had lost almost everyone he ever knew. She knew she would have held up much worse than he just had. He had been able to stay coherent long enough to answer their questions. She watched as the dragon nuzzled him sadly. "I'll explain all of this to the team. We'll wait until he falls asleep to wake them all up." He needed the rest, and Iris knew her team would feel less inclined to try and question him immediately if it meant having to wake him... while he was sleeping protected by the dragon. She wouldn't put it past some of them to try and question him through the speaker system if he was still awake. They were good people, but enthusiasm sometimes overrode tact.

"Should I show them the video of all of this?" Skyler seemed doubtful if that was a good idea.

Iris knew it would be effective to just show the entire encounter, but a lot of that seemed a bit irrelevant. And she knew she wouldn't want a video of her breaking down to be circulated among a group of people she would have to interact with on a daily basis. "No, it's too personal. We can tell them what happened."

Skyler didn't object. She walked over to the control panel and set the lights to mimic the current time. The room on the other side of the window faded into darkness. The only visible thing inside was a set of large green eyes, watching silently.

Iris was already developing a headache in anticipation of the next few minutes. She accessed the intercom system and disabled it for the room Hiccup and Toothless were in. There was no reason to wake them, if either had managed to get to sleep yet. She accessed the remaining portion of the system. "Everyone report to the... cafeteria." She didn't want to meet in the observation room.

A few minutes later, the full group of sleepy and excited scientists was gathered in the simple eating and cooking area of the bunker. They were sitting at the various tables, and most of them had taken the last few minutes to acquire a cup of coffee. They waited expectantly.

Iris stood with Skyler in the middle of the room. She had taken a few minutes to cut a few pictures and video clips out of the surveillance. The encounter as a whole was too personal, but some visual aids wouldn't hurt. She addressed the room. "First of all, they both seem to have made a full recovery, as expected." That was greeted with silence, as the room waited for what she would say next. "The dragon woke a few minutes ago." She played a clip of the dragon immediately after it woke up on the monitor embedded in the wall. The scientists watched in silence as the dragon panicked and despaired on screen. After the clip was over, Iris continued.

"At that point, the man started waking up. We determined that he speaks Old Norse." There were a few mutters at that. "He immediately rushed to the dragon once he found out where it was and was in the room before we could stop him." She tried to say this as neutrally as possible, but the murmurs of dismay that news prompted occurred anyway. The scientists were obviously envisioning the loss of at least one life. Iris smiled and put up a still image of Hiccup and Toothless hugging. That, she noted with a smirk, caused several mugs of coffee to be spilled. "We entered the room and held a short conversation with the man. They took the news that they had been frozen for a thousand years about as well as could realistically be expected. We did find out a few things though. The man and dragon are best friends. The dragon, whose name is apparently 'Toothless' only eats fish, and is non-aggressive unless he or the man, named 'Hiccup' is threatened. The dragon is extremely intelligent. As best we can tell, it understands complex ideas and can answer questions non-verbally. When asked in Old Norse, obviously."

There was a real uproar at that. Iris waited a few minutes for the group to calm down. Once they had mostly quieted, she continued. "They are both currently asleep. We will learn more in the morning when they wake up. Right now, we have some things we need to do."

Abdul was the first to speak. "Just how smart is the dragon?" The question seemed to be of the utmost importance to him.

Iris really wasn't sure of that herself. "At least as smart as a dolphin. Further than that, I couldn't say." She personally suspected much smarter, but there was not enough evidence to support that yet.

The doctor from before was the next to speak. "Can we question the man directly when he wakes up?"

Skyler answered that. "I only have a few earpieces at the moment and only the one tablet. Besides, it's probably best not to overwhelm them with new people." She looked to Iris for confirmation.

"Yes. If any of you have preliminary questions, get them to me or Skyler before morning. We'll ask the ones we can. Later you can talk to them yourselves. Right now, we need to try not to overwhelm them."

Stan spoke up. "This is all well and good, but is it really our jurisdiction anymore? This isn't part of the mission of our teams. Team ten is in the testing phase, but you guys aren't even close to done from what I can tell. Should you really be spending time and resources on this?"

It was a fair question. Before Iris could answer, Abdul spoke up. "I'm not sure how much you know about what we're doing here, but that dragon might be exactly what we've been searching for. It all depends on just how intelligent it is. If it's as smart as I hope, this is definitely pertaining to our goal. To the point that we can't succeed without them."

Stan looked to Iris, who nodded. It might still be foolish to hope, but after the recent encounter she had, it was difficult not to.

Iris decided to get the conversation back on track. "To that end, I want some of us to research Norse culture in general. The man said some very interesting and slightly disturbing things. One important detail is that he seems to have seen something revived from being frozen in his time." She waited for the confused muttering to die down. "Which is obviously something that shouldn't be possible. He called the thing that was revived a 'Skrill'. So some of us should look into that." She knew that was by far a long shot, but maybe Norse mythology or legends would have something.

After that, the scientists broke up into teams to start researching. They had about five hours until morning, and they were going to use them all. Iris began a very specific search of her own. Hiccup had mentioned someone who went by the name of 'Drago'. From what he had said, that person had done something terrible. Generally, conquerors left legends. Maybe she'd find something.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note:**_ **It has come to my attention that some of you may be wondering about how exactly Hiccup and Toothless came to be frozen in the first place. I will say two things. First, at no point in this story will it be explained straight out. Second, there is a backstory there, despite it not being explicitly stated. Pay attention to details and you'll be able to pick it out, forming your own conclusions from what is implied.**

"So, what were you doing the last five hours?" Iris was curious because Skyler looked frazzled but triumphant. Iris's own search had turned up absolutely nothing. There was no man by the name of 'Drago' in Norse legends or mythology. He apparently hadn't been memorable enough to stand the tests of time.

"Something stupid." Skyler's expression belied her statement. "I set up a recording device for when we talk to them again."

Iris wasn't sure why. "We already have an automatic audio recorder."

Skyler shook her head. "This isn't a normal one. It picks up more frequencies of sound to play back, not just the ones we can hear. I'm going on a hunch. I'm not going to explain unless I turn out to be right, that way I don't look like an idiot if I'm wrong."

Iris understood that. "Well, I just picked up the briefings from the teams in charge of research. Instead of giving me questions, they just want to watch us interact. Saves us time, at least." Scientists did like observation. Iris wasn't sure whether she liked this upcoming interview having an audience.

Skyler nodded. "Well, they're probably awake now. We just need two more things. I call not carrying the fish."

Iris grimaced. "Great. What do you think a Norseman from a thousand years ago eats, anyway?" She held up her hand before Skyler could guess. "Wait, don't answer that." She ruffled through the massive report on Norse culture. "Looks like... bread and cheese should be good. Although some of the other stuff on this list is pretty gross."

Skyler didn't comment. They went to the cafeteria's kitchen, where Skyler picked up a loaf of bread and hunk of cheese, along with a water bottle. She met Iris's questioning stare. "Come on, he figured out a modern door in like three seconds. He can figure out a plastic bottle."

Iris grimaced as she went to the storeroom where they had kept the fish. The entire room reeked, despite basically being a freezer. She grabbed a crate of fish and laboriously carried it to the observation room.

Skyler laughed at that. "Do you really think Toothless will eat that many fish?" She seemed entirely comfortable using the dragon's name.

Iris shrugged. "Better to have leftovers than to have to go back for more."

They looked into the window. The lights were about half-strength, because they had been set to mimic day-night cycles, and it was about six in the morning. Sunrise. From what they could see, the room's occupants were both awake. The man was toying with that strange hilt he had pulled out from his prosthetic before. The dragon was watching the man intently, staring at the device almost cautiously.

The observation room itself was filling with the rest of the team, who were all staring into the window. Iris was suddenly glad the window was one-way. She would not like being able to see them watching from the other side. Knowing they were there was bad enough.

"Well, let's get in there." Skyler hefted her audio recording device and the plate of food.

Iris and Skyler walked through the door and into the room. Both occupants stopped what they were doing and stared. The dragon licked its lips.

Iris faltered at that, but Skyler just laughed. She handed the plate of food to the man, disregarding how close she had to get to the dragon to do so. As she did, she spoke to Iris. "He's not staring at you."

Iris blushed as she remembered what she was carrying. She set the open crate on the ground in front of the dragon and backed away.

The dragon looked at her and nodded. In thanks? Then he started sorting through the assorted fish in the crate with his head. The fish all apparently passed his inspection, and he began to swallow them whole.

Iris watched and wondered if she would need to go back for more after all. But then she saw something that made her forget about having to bring more fish.

Toothless looked at Hiccup questioningly and warbled. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Hiccup shrugged and addressed Toothless directly. "Sure, a small one."

The dragon dug through the remaining fish and selected a smaller one. He proceeded, much to the amazement of everyone watching save Hiccup, to lay it down and breath a blue-white jet of flame onto it, instantly cooking it. He flipped it over and repeated the process. Once the fish had cooled a bit, the dragon picked it up and tossed it to Hiccup.

Hiccup saw Iris and Skyler's shocked expressions and tried to explain. "He sometimes does that. Had to explain after the first time that raw fish isn't the greatest thing for a human to eat. He started doing that on his own."

Iris was a bit more concerned with the fact that a reptile had just breathed fire. Sure, most dragons in stories could, but that wasn't something that she thought was a real capability of any living creature. "He breathes fire? Is that all he can do, or..." She really had to know.

Toothless made a strange sound. He almost seemed to be having a small convulsion.

Hiccup saw their faces and quickly explained. "He's laughing. Probably because that was not even close to his full firepower. He'd probably demonstrate, but this room is way too small for that."

Skyler let out a breath that she had been holding. She proceeded to ask a question directly to Toothless. "Toothless, how much do you understand of spoken language?"

Once the translator had repeated that, Toothless made eye contact with Skyler, and let out a confused mumble. He then rolled his eyes and sat up as tall as possible.

Hiccup laughed. "Pretty much all of it nowadays. Back when I first met him, none whatsoever. I remember the day he learned what his name meant. Someone was talking to an old man with no teeth. Once he made the connection, he slapped me with his tailfin. When I explained what my name meant, he calmed back down. After laughing at me, of course." He smiled.

Skyler was pretty sure the scientists watching this were going crazy right about now. This dragon was definitely as intelligent as any human. And to learn an entire language in... "Wait, how long have you two known each other?"

Hiccup thought about that. "For us, it has been a bit over five years. In reality, I guess that plus a thousand?"

Five years. This supported Skyler's running theory, which wasn't looking so crazy anymore. She decided to ask Hiccup directly. "Does he have his own language?"

Hiccup looked troubled. "I've wondered that myself. But no matter how hard I try, I can't hear anything more than a few random sounds. There doesn't seem to be any distinction besides between basic emotions. Happy, sad, angry, curious, hungry... he has specific sounds for those, but that seems to be about it. There has to be more, but I can't figure it out. And I've spent five years trying."

That was also a massive boost to Skyler's theory in itself. She couldn't wait to run this recording back and check it.

Iris had more questions of her own. "How did you two meet?"

Strangely, that caused both of them to grimace. Toothless looked at Hiccup and nodded. Hiccup began to speak, his voice almost ashamed. "It didn't start well. I lived on an island that was raided by dragons regularly. They'd show up at night and steal sheep, fish, food in general. Vikings have stubbornness issues, so of course, they fought back and didn't just move to another island. I was not like everyone else, and was desperate to prove myself. So I built things. Traps, machines designed to kill or destroy. None of it ever worked. Then I got lucky. I built a machine that would throw bolas for me. I took it out in a raid and aimed big. The most dangerous dragon known to Vikings. The thing nicknamed 'the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself' to be exact. The Night Fury." Hiccup smirked, pointing to Toothless, who obligingly snarled menacingly. Hiccup continued with a subtle smile, though that faded as he spoke.

"It never showed itself, and never stole food. It only attacked watchtowers. No one had ever even seen one and lived to tell the tale. But I got in a lucky shot. And hit it."

Iris was trying to absorb all of this, but a few things didn't make sense. "Why did dragons raid for food? I would assume they were capable of getting food themselves."

Hiccup smiled. "That question right there proves you are more intelligent than any Viking to ever live on Berk, except me and a guy called Fishlegs. We both asked that question at one point. But I'm getting to that." He nudged Toothless. "No one believed me. So I went in search of the dragon's corpse. What I found was an injured Night Fury, still tangled in my bolas. But I wouldn't kill it. The most dangerous dragon in the world and I wouldn't kill it. Because I saw myself in its fear and despair. So I did something really stupid. I cut it loose. And of course, it pounced on me. But he didn't kill me either. He roared in my face and left. I discovered the next day that he was stuck in a cove." At this Hiccup's face fell, and the dragon swept its tail around so that it was clearly visible. "One of his tailfins was gone. Ripped clean off by something, probably by a tree he hit in the fall."

Skyler gasped. She had been wondering about what was the only asymmetrical part of the dragon. Now that made sense. "He can't fly?"

Hiccup smiled a sad smile. "Because of my stupidity, no. But keep listening. I went back and brought him fish. We learned to trust each other, slowly. After that, I knew I had to fix things. He was stuck in that cove, on an island of dragon-killers. So I built him a prosthetic tail. It took a while, but eventually, we perfected a system of flight. The only problem was, I had to be the one operating the tail." He smiled at the dragon. "It took me about a year after that to figure out how to build a tail he could use without me. But he didn't want it. Anyway, we learned to fly together, and meanwhile, I was going through dragon-training in the village. Eventually, Toothless took me and Astrid..."

Here he took a deep breath, visibly holding himself together. "He took us to the nest. And we saw the reason why dragons raided. We saw their Queen. She was big enough to bite a large dragon in half. They raided to feed her, or they would be eaten themselves."

Iris had more questions now. Way more. She decided to hold most of them for later, but one couldn't be contained. "You built a prosthetic tail that Toothless could work on his own... and you built it from scratch?" This was something she would not have considered possible two hundred years ago, much less a thousand.

Hiccup nodded. "I make things. It's kind of what I do. Vikings use their brawn, but I have none. My brain is my biggest strength." He pulled out that metal hilt. "This is the only thing I've built that I still have."

"What is it?"

"A weapon. I call it Inferno." He pushed a button, and a telescoping hollow blade shot out of the hilt. He flicked another switch, and the blade caught on fire. And stayed on fire, flames merrily burning nothing visible, dancing along the metal rods.

"What in the world is it burning?" Skyler knew chemistry, and she knew of no clear fluid that burned this long or this powerfully. Possibly a custom solution, but Vikings had nowhere near that capability.

"Monstrous Nightmare gel." Hiccup seemed to realize something and had Toothless blow the sword out. "Actually, I probably shouldn't be burning that. Especially if there aren't any Monstrous Nightmares around." He popped a canister off of his waist and tossed it to Skyler, who deftly caught it. "That isn't all Inferno can do, but the other ability, again, is dangerous to demonstrate in a confined space."

Skyler carefully opened the metal canister and looked at the viscous and clear green-tinted liquid inside. "You're like us." It was a statement, almost a realization.

"What?" Hiccup seemed amused.

Iris continued Skyler's chain of thought. She had been thinking the same thing. "Skyler means you are like us because we are scientists. People who make things, discover things. You are clearly way ahead of your time. I'm betting there weren't any other Vikings like you, people who could make stuff like this."

Hiccup grimaced at that. "There actually was one guy, but he only ever made something like my stuff once. An improved version of my first Inferno. But he was more of a strategist." He sighed. "He was already dead a few months before all of this."

Iris had a guess. "Was he a friend?"

Hiccup laughed bitterly, a dark tint to his words. "Definitely not. He and I tried our best to destroy each other's way of life for over a year. He did his level best to kill me and my friends on multiple occasions, and I was at least partially responsible for ruining half of his face." Hiccup's expression saddened. "But he was smart. Smart enough that he eventually couldn't deny that what he was doing was wrong. He died to save our lives, in the process of trying to make up for what he had done. I don't consider him a friend, but I will always remember him facing down his own men... with four arrows already in his back."

Iris had no response to that. Hiccup seemed like a nice guy, but he spoke of what sounded like all-out war.

Skyler, however, did have something to say. "Why were you enemies?"

Hiccup shrugged. "He was the leader of a massive organization of dragon hunters, who hunted and sold dragons and dragon parts to the highest bidder. And I was the leader of a group of dragon riders and riding the last Night Fury. It was basically war right from the start."

That prompted Iris. "Wait, Toothless was already the only Night Fury in your time?"

Toothless whined softly. Hiccup patted his side. "Yeah. We weren't sure if he was the last, but five years of searching on dragonback is pretty conclusive. And now... he's definitely the last." His eyebrows dropped. "And from your reactions... are dragons even still around in this time?"

Skyler shook her head sadly. "We didn't even know they had ever existed. And that is really saying something in this day and age."

Hiccup was not happy with that. "Well, looks like Drago succeeded. So much for everything we ever worked for." Maybe 'not happy' was an understatement.

Toothless whined, louder this time.

Hiccup turned to face him. "I know. But at least we survived. Even if you're the only one for sure now. It's still better than being dead." He waited until the dragon nodded in agreement. "Good. Besides, now that's just one more thing we have in common. The last Viking, and the last dragon." He said this softly. Then he turned and addressed Iris. "I'm assuming there aren't any Vikings anymore. A thousand years is a really long time. If dragons are gone so completely that no one even knows they existed, it would make sense that Vikings aren't around anymore either."

Iris realized that he had about a thousand years of history to catch up on. "No, they are not. But we know a little about them. Clearly not very much, if we didn't know about dragons. But you did kind of miss a thousand years of stuff."

Hiccup gestured at the tablet translating for them. "Clearly." He didn't seem uncomfortable with it at all. He was almost excited, in fact. "You're lucky I'm not most Vikings. That thing would scream 'black magic' to them. I just see an invention I don't understand. Yet."

Skyler laughed. "That would be the scientific mindset right there. I think you'll like all the stuff that's been developed in the last thousand years." She seemed distracted. She was still looking at Toothless, who had been following the conversation carefully. "Are you trying to learn our language?"

Toothless jumped, and then stared at her guiltily.

She laughed. "I guess this is the perfect opportunity. We say something in our language, and then the translator repeats it in the language you know. Perfect learning material."

Hiccup laughed. "Someone's nosy." He flinched as the dragon whacked him on the shoulder with its tail. "Feel free to keep trying. Hopefully, this one doesn't take you five years." He ducked the next tail swipe. "No offense! You are way better than me at that. I still can't understand you, and I've been trying for a long time."

There was a silence. Toothless looked quite annoyed at the lack of translated material.

Iris realized something. These two were definitely going to be here a while. So far they had only seen one or two rooms. It would be cruel to keep them in here. She had also realized something else earlier, but that could wait. "Skyler, we should step outside for a minute. Hiccup, Toothless, we'll be back soon."

Skyler had been fiddling with the tablet. She smiled, and set it down. "Toothless. Have fun while we're gone. I expect you to be able to count to ten in English by the time we get back." She smirked at the crestfallen expression on the dragon's face.

Hiccup burst out laughing. "He's trying to understand the language, not speak it."

Skyler nodded. "In that case, to understand us counting to ten." She hit a button, and the machine began speaking, alternating between Old Norse and English. She had set it up with several dozen basic words, including numbers, colors, and other basic things.

Iris almost laughed at the studious expression on both of their faces as they listened. Toothless seemed entirely invested in learning, and Hiccup clearly didn't want to be left behind by his own dragon. Plus, he would be capable of speaking it if he learned, unlike Toothless. Eventually. She and Skyler left them like that.

Iris stepped into the observation room to greet over a dozen entirely silent scientists. "Well?"

They all started talking at once. She motioned for them to stop, and once the room was quiet, she continued. "We just learned a lot. But, there are some decisions we need to make. First, does everyone agree that they seem genuinely harmless?"

There was a murmur of agreement. The dragon was scary in appearance, but its mannerisms were far too intelligent for that fear to last long.

Iris voiced her next question carefully. "Good. And do we think it is intelligent enough to be a solution to our original problem?"

Abdul spoke up. "Almost. If it really does have its own language, then yes. If it doesn't, that could be an issue."

The scientists all understood that. Skyler grinned and spoke up, hefting the recorder. "Hiccup is a smart guy, and he couldn't figure it out. But I think I know why." She plugged the recorder in and opened a sound imaging software. As she did, she spoke. "He doesn't have access to our technology. I think the reason he can't figure out if Toothless has his own language is..." She projected the visual representations of the soundwaves her recorder had captured and started playing back the recording.

The recording of the conversation was playing in sync to the visual sound waves. At the moment Toothless warbled at Hiccup, there was a spike in soundwaves far above and below the normal levels. Skyler paused the recording. "Yup. Humans can't hear most of how Toothless talks. He's communicating with sounds above and below the frequencies we can hear." That was said triumphantly. "He does speak, but probably only other dragons can hear it well enough to understand. I suspected as much before now when I saw his ears. They seem highly sensitive."

Iris grinned. "So, he does talk." Then her grin faltered. "But we won't ever be able to hear it." That was disappointing.

Skyler waved her finger. "Come on, we don't give up that easily. If we can figure out the language itself, I'm sure some of us can modify the tablet to pick up and register those wavelengths. We don't have to hear it, the computer does. Just like translating any other language. The dragon is learning English right now, he certainly seems like he'd be willing to cooperate. It won't be a two-way language barrier for long. When he understands English, it'll just be a matter of us saying something in English, and him saying it back in his language. Give the computer enough samples and translations to work with, and it can figure out the rest." They could technically go from Norse to English to this new language through the tablet, but Skyler knew all to well that it was best not to rely on the imperfect translating software any more than they had to. Best Toothless be able to judge for himself what words in his language matched the English equivalent, not the computer.

Iris laughed. "So, I guess we all agree Toothless is the perfect candidate for the project." She got the cheering she expected. They had literally had the answer to an impossible problem shipped to them in a freezer truck. And they hadn't known it at the time.

Then she frowned. "But not yet. The computer needs a perfect model of the subject to scan. And Toothless isn't a perfect model." Something that had occurred to her earlier returned full force. "Abdul. Would you be willing to assist me with that?"

The geneticist smiled. "Are you going to one-up Hiccup?"

Iris frowned. "Yes, though I wasn't thinking of it like that. Hiccup had metal and leather to work with. We have stem cell technology. A self-controlled prosthetic effective enough to fly with is far more impressive, given the respective circumstances." She turned to the medical staff. "You'd be able to do it, right?"

The doctors nodded. "We'll need blood samples, to make sure we have the right types of sedatives. The same reason we used electricity instead of cardiac resuscitation drugs to bring him back. We need to know what's safe and effective to use. But that seems to be the only problem. Muscles and bones are the same in all reptiles."

Brett, the geologist from team ten, spoke up. "Are you going to ask them about it first? Any of it? They're both intelligent people, from all appearances. You can't treat Toothless like an animal, and just try to fix his tail without asking." For a man of few words, these carried weight.

That struck Iris hard. "Yes, of course. None of this will be forced on them. But I think once they understand why and how, they probably won't object."

Stan spoke. "That's another thing. Hiccup is smart, really smart by the looks of it, but he's about a thousand years behind. Are you going to tell him about... everything?"

One of the scientists spoke up. "This isn't Star Trek. He needs to know about the world as it is now. If anything, the fact that they're both learning basic English", he pointed to the window, where it could be seen that neither of the people in question had stopped listening to the tablet, "proves they would be willing and able to understand." He laughed. "Besides, that's what the history and science channels are for."

Iris considered that. She had only one final question. "And everyone would be okay with them moving around the bunker? We can't just keep them in that room."

Someone laughed. "Hey, I always knew all of the corridors and doors were this big for a reason. The main corridors makes sense, but who the heck builds an entire bunker to this scale? This works out perfectly." He laughed even harder. "We even have a bathroom big enough for the dragon. He should be able to fit into the extra-large stall made for wheelchairs."

The entire room burst out laughing at that. But it was actually true. There would be no practical issues with a dragon roaming the halls of the bunker. And no dragon-dung cleanup.

Iris spoke one more time. "So, we'll basically make them full members of the team. Toothless as our prime subject, and Hiccup as our dragon expert. Abdul and I will work on growing Toothless another tailfin, and Skyler will figure out the language of another sentient species. Everyone else, I'm sure there are a million other things that need to be done." She considered how best to go about this. "Abdul, We'll get you some DNA and blood samples soon. Then we can start on that part. After I explain some things to those two, and if they agree."

Skyler held up a hand. "Wait a minute. I want as many language samples as possible. I'll go in with you once this finishes loading." She was clearing the memory card of the recording device. "Done. Let's go." She looked into the window. "Besides, I think the tablet is done. I'll need to add a few hundred more words." She smiled.

Iris was skeptical. Skyler seemed to forget that not everyone was as good at picking up foreign languages as she was. Iris personally doubted that the two friends had learned everything perfectly in the last five minutes. She picked up a tablet of her own, and they both re-entered the room. It was time to fill these guys in.


	5. Chapter 5

Both human and dragon looked up from the tablet. Hiccup had been examining it and hastily put it back down. "It stopped. We weren't sure if it was done, or..."

Skyler laughed. "I only put a few dozen words on there." She turned to Toothless. "Did you memorize them all?" Iris gasped as the dragon nodded. That was impressive. "Really?" She covered the microphone of the tablet, so it wouldn't translate her next statement. "Six."

Toothless purred as he thumped his tail six times. At the same time, Hiccup held up six fingers.

Skyler laughed. "Wow, you guys learn fast." She put the tablet away, much to Toothless's obvious disappointment. "Hey, you can learn more English later. Right now, Iris is going to fill you in on a few things."

Iris took over. "So, you know we recovered you from a block of ice. It wasn't just us two. There are about twenty of us in total. All of us are experts in various fields of science. Some doctors, some people who work with technology, and some people who work in fields you don't even know exist yet."

Hiccup nodded. "A thousand years is a lot of time to advance."

Iris smiled. "Exactly. The bottom line is, in a world of advanced technology, we are some of the most qualified people to use and improve it. I'm going to set you two up with something that'll explain the last thousand years later. But right now, just understand that everything I'm going to describe is entirely possible and safe."

Toothless frowned at that. He seemed to pick up the implication that these new things wouldn't sound safe.

Iris continued. "First, we've all agreed that you two can have the run of the bunker, the big building we are in. Outside is a bit risky right now, for reasons I will explain later. Second, we have an offer for Toothless."

The dragon tilted his head as if to prompt her to continue.

"The science behind this is a little complicated," which was definitely an understatement, "but with a few samples, we can grow parts of people. And reattach them, if the person doesn't have that part anymore."

Toothless's eyes opened wider than Iris had ever seen them go, and his mouth dropped open. She took a second to confirm that he was indeed toothless, though she could have sworn that wasn't the case earlier. She could see that Hiccup was just as shocked and hopeful.

Hiccup spoke. "Are you saying you can give Toothless a new tailfin?"

Iris smiled. "Not just a new tailfin. It would be identical to the original tailfin he lost. And the surgery to reattach it is very thorough. It would be like he never lost it." Her smile faded. "We would offer to do the same for you, Hiccup, but I'm guessing that that leg was amputated. If the bone was cut and smoothed, which was a common practice in amputations before we developed this technology, attaching a new leg would be very difficult, and probably wouldn't work very well. You would be better off with your current prosthetic."

Hiccup closed his mouth. "That's fine. But you can really grow Toothless a new tailfin, and safely attach it?" He frowned. "How would that part work?"

Iris inhaled. This was going to be tricky, but she would be honest. "Medicine has changed tremendously. What you would consider unfixable in your time is almost certainly something we could fix now. This kind of operation is fairly routine. Toothless would lay on a table and inhale something that would safely send him into a deep sleep for a while. Then, the extremely talented doctors we have would carefully cut open the place the tailfin was, and use various tools to reattach the muscles and bones. That part is extremely hard to explain, but it isn't hard for them to do. Then, they would sew the cut up, and keep him from moving the tailfin for a few weeks. It would hurt for a while, but we have things to make the pain manageable. After those weeks, he will be able to use the tailfin like new, though it might take him a while to get used to having it again." There. She had described modern-day surgery to a Viking and a dragon.

Toothless and Hiccup both looked slightly nauseous. Hiccup eventually spoke up. "That's safe? Really?" He laughed slightly. "What exactly is your definition of 'safe'?" It was a serious question, despite the tone.

"Doctors have been doing it for decades now, and no one ever dies from it. It is something routine nowadays. The patient doesn't even feel it because they are deeply asleep. A tailfin is simple in comparison to things like skin transplants or heart transplants. Doctors now can literally give a burn victim new skin, or someone with a weak heart an entirely new one. Those operations are fairly safe, though a little bit riskier than this. This really is something that can be done with no risk. If Toothless is willing?" This part was directed at the dragon.

Toothless looked at Hiccup and whined. He seemed uncertain.

Hiccup hugged him. "If you want it, I'm entirely behind you. This is a chance to fix the worst thing I've ever done. Of course I want you to."

Toothless eyed him sideways, seemingly unconvinced.

"That was different." Hiccup shrugged uncomfortably. "I thought you weren't coming back. I would have been fine with you keeping the automatic tail then too, as long as I knew you weren't leaving. This is way better."

Toothless considered that and then licked Hiccup happily. He made eye contact with Iris and nodded.

Skyler laughed. "Alright, way to be brave."

Hiccup spoke. "But I want to be there with him when you reattach it. It's my fault he has to go through this at all, so the least I can do is be by his side."

Iris nodded. "Of course. I'll need a sample of something from Toothless, like spit, and a small blood sample so that I and another scientist can begin growing the tailfin. That will take a few weeks. After that, we can attach it."

Hiccup looked at Toothless. "That works. Because he has plenty of spit." He dodged the dragon's tongue. "They need it, not me!"

Skyler laughed and left the room. She came back a few minutes later with a petri dish and a plastic bag. "Sure." She walked up to Toothless, and he licked the dish. He didn't seem to like the taste of the sterilized glass.

"This next part is going to hurt a little." Skyler frowned, removing a needle from the bag. "We need a little bit of blood."

Toothless eyed her warily before huffing and sticking a paw out. He watched carefully as she examined his paw. She eventually stepped back, a bit frustrated.

"It's no use. I can't find a vein. I'm no doctor, and these scales don't help."

Toothless growled, before shaking his head angrily. He proceeded to bite his own paw, definitely drawing more than enough blood.

Skyler gasped in shock before quickly siphoning off some of the blood. She glared at him once she was done. "That was stupid! Next time just let me get a doctor or someone who can just find a vein."

The only response she received was a smug purr. With a huff, she left the room to take the sample to Abdul.

Iris watched this in silence, though she had flinched when Toothless took matters into his own paws. Once it was over, she returned to the conversation. "As I said, that will take a while. In the meantime, want to take a tour of the bunker and meet the rest of us?"

Both human and dragon seemed excited at that. Hiccup spoke for them both. "Sure. It'll be nice to get out of this room."

Iris, in way of response, picked up the tablet translating her words, and, after sticking it under her arm, walked over to the far wall. The wall's only defining characteristic was the flat pad somewhat to the left of the center, at about shoulder height. She held her hand out to it and pushed her palm onto it. There were twin gasps of surprise from behind her as lights shot out and traced her hand. The entire wall slid up into the ceiling, revealing the corridor. She gestured to them. "Follow me."

The three walked down the hallway and stopped at a four-way intersection. Iris turned to face the way they had came. "That was part of the south wing. Medical facilities, living quarters, food.." She turned around to face North. "This section is the storage area and the Nuclear Reactor." At their puzzled expressions, she quickly clarified. "A reactor is a massive power source. But it is probably the most dangerous thing within a thousand miles. So don't go down there without an escort. It's entirely safe as long as you don't mess with it, and it is heavily protected. So you wouldn't even get close. But better safe than sorry."

She turned to face West. "This wing is our labs and machinery. Basically, our workshops and forges of this time period." And finally, she turned to face East. "This way is a few offices, security, cells, farms, and whatever else we need to be self-sufficient down here. There's a lot of stuff down that way. At the very end is where the exit to the outside world is. But that is a huge door, and can't just be opened whenever. Besides, outside is very dangerous for you two without knowledge. You'll be able to go out later, once you understand what to do and what to avoid." She turned to face them. "The entire bunker is lined with radiation-proof material." She took in the twin confused expressions that statement had elicited. "Radiation is kind of like a really powerful poison that can't be cured and goes through almost anything. You can't see it, hear it, or smell it, but it can kill you in seconds or months, depending on how strong it is. This is one of the safest places on the planet, because radiation can't get in."

Hiccup laughed. "Safe, except for the most dangerous thing within a thousand miles, which is in here with us." He pointed at Toothless. "And the most dangerous dragon in existence. Although now he gets that title by default instead of merit." He narrowly avoided sprawling on the floor when Toothless nudged him playfully, though there was a hint of sorrow in the dragon's expression as well.

Iris took them on a tour of the East wing first. Both Hiccup and Toothless were amazed at the self-maintained gardens and mechanical processing. Toothless in particular loved the air-generating area, which was by far the biggest room in the bunker. It had been designed mainly for carbon dioxide scrubbers, but the bunker designer had made it look as natural as possible, and even had a few real trees planted inside, The entire room was also covered in a layer of real grass and was a tall, wide open space. Something the Night Fury, in particular, seemed to have been hoping for the entire tour.

Hiccup took in Toothless's bouncy attitude. "Is it safe for him to run around in here?"

Iris smiled. "Yes, it is. The important machinery is all well-protected and fairly out of the way." The second she had said 'yes' Toothless was off.

Toothless did his level best to work off all of the stress, confusion, and excitement of the last few days in the next five minutes.

Iris and Hiccup just watched with Iris in awe. She had never seen an animal that big move that fast. She was pretty sure Toothless was running at over fifty miles per hour, and that was with him constantly changing directions to avoid walls. And he was using his wings to glide and maneuver extraordinarily accurately.

Hiccup laughed. "All that speed and power, and I can still beat him in a wrestling match."

Iris stared at him in utter disbelief.

Hiccup clarified. "I cheat. He has a pressure point that knocks him out. If I don't cheat, I don't stand a chance." He ducked as Toothless's tail whiffed through the air where his head would have been. "Hey, that might have actually hurt! I admitted I cheat!"

The dragon stopped in front of them. He huffed at Hiccup.

"I admitted it. Don't worry, she didn't believe me anyway."

The dragon smiled, something that shocked Iris. Along with the fact that it was a human expression, she could definitely see teeth now. "So what is the deal with that? I swear you seem to only have teeth sometimes." She was addressing Toothless directly.

In way of answer, Toothless turned to Iris. His teeth literally retracted into his gums and then shot back into place. He gurgled.

"Oh, interesting. Why?" At the dragon's confused expression, Iris continued. "Why do your teeth retract?"

Toothless shrugged. He didn't know.

Hiccup answered. "I don't think he knows. Probably to avoid blasting them out of his own mouth when he fires."

Iris wanted to question the use of the word 'blasting' but she figured that would have to wait until it could be demonstrated. "Okay then. On with the tour."

After they had finished with the East wing, Iris took them through the West wing. She noted the extremely curious and impressed look on Hiccup's face, and the disinterested one on Toothless's. "Toothless looks like he's seen all of this already."

Hiccup laughed. "He definitely hasn't seen this, but he knows a workshop when he sees one. He's always nagging me to get out of places like this. He's probably just anticipating more of that in the future."

After that, they went back to the South wing. They continued on past the medical area until Iris stopped in front of the cafeteria. "It's about lunchtime, so everyone else is probably in here. Ready to meet the other people who helped save your life?" She looked at Toothless. "Try not to look too scary." She laughed as he sheathed his teeth and widened his eyes. "That works."

She pushed open the doors to the eating area, and the three walked in. Talk quickly died off as the various scientists noticed the non-human member of the entering group.

Iris abruptly realized that communication was going to be a bit tricky. She and Skyler were the only ones getting the translations for what Hiccup was saying. "Everyone, meet Hiccup and Toothless. We're still working on the language barriers, so for now, maybe stick to non-verbal stuff."

After a second of silence, the scientists understood what she meant. Most waved, and everyone was smiling. Those gestures at least were universal.

Iris addressed Hiccup and Toothless. "Right now, we only have two earpieces, so only Skyler and I can understand you. Once we make some more or just pass these around, you can really meet everyone else." She considered them. "For now, how about some food?"

* * *

A few hours later, Iris had set Hiccup and Toothless up in a spare room. One with a bed, and enough floor space for Toothless as well. They were currently doing a marathon viewing session of the history channel. Iris figured the playlist she had set up would cover the basics... in six or seven hours. The very basics. A thousand years was a lot of time to cover. And that wasn't even going past 1900. She figured everything past that would need a basic technology lesson beforehand. Luckily, one of the tech guys had been able to set up the laptop playing the videos to automatically translate to Old Norse, so no translator was needed. She had a few hours to work with Abdul on the tailfin.

"So is it working?" It had been a while since she used one of these things. Finding the section of the DNA that contained the 'blueprints' for the tailfin had been the hardest part. It might have taken days, but Abdul had gotten lucky and found it in the first hour. Now they were running it through a computer simulation to fine-tune exactly what part of the tail they needed to recreate. She had taken a scan of Toothless's current tail, and they were making sure the new piece would stop growing in the right places.

"Yes, that should be it." Abdul finished running one final simulation. "Luckily it was originally a clean break. It would have been messy if there were still bone chunks from the original tail in the remaining piece." He pushed a few buttons on the computer keyboard. "As it is, this should be pretty easy. Is the mini-vat ready?"

Iris checked what he had referred to as the 'mini-vat' and saw that it was. "Yup. Send it over."

He had called it a mini-vat because a real vat was massive, the size of a large truck on the inside. This one was only the size of a few refrigerators stuck together. Hence, 'mini'. It was a piece of machinery designed specifically for this process, that of growing replacement biological parts from DNA fragments and stem cells. The larger vats had a more... exotic purpose. One specific to their original goal. They wouldn't need those for a few months yet, even if everything went well. But now it was looking like they would need them at some point, which was a definite improvement.

The vat flickered into operation. It was a large computer with a massive glass tank built out of the side, filled with green liquid. She knew there would be nothing to see in the tank for a few days at least. Checking the vat, the estimated time to completion was... eleven days. Not bad.

"Alright, it'll be done in eleven days. I'll tell the Doctors that they have until then to figure out what to use to knock Toothless out safely." She wasn't worried. That was way more than enough time.

Abdul grinned. "This is something I never thought I'd be doing. Growing a replacement fin for an actual dragon. I've seen plenty of movies with dragons. This one is way better than anyone ever depicted." He laughed happily. "And a dragon as intelligent as we are, who is working to learn our language just because he can."

Iris laughed. "Not at the moment. Right now, he's watching the history channel."

Abdul was silent. "On that note, any ideas why we've never found any evidence of dragons? It seems quite strange, especially given how many Hiccup implied there were. Enough for an entire business to be run on killing them. Even if they were rare, why didn't we know?"

Iris had no answer. "I really have no idea. It is strange." She straightened up. "Well, I'm going to join them. They might have a few questions the history channel didn't answer." She was realizing that she quite enjoyed spending time with the two. Especially Hiccup, though that might just be because she could actually hear him talk.

Abdul grinned sarcastically. "Unless you want to watch cells divide, there isn't much to do here anyway. I eagerly await the completion of more earpieces." After a moment he continued. "Would it be okay if I talked to Hiccup later, using your earpiece, or Skyler's?"

"Sure, that's fine." Iris glanced back at him as she exited the lab. "Later today, maybe."

* * *

Iris walked in on the two about two hours in. But they weren't alone. Skyler was already there and was leaning against Toothless's side. Hiccup was sitting on the bed about a foot away, Toothless's tail sprawled out next to him. Iris stared.

Skyler smirked. "What? He's a more comfortable backrest than the wall." She laughed as Toothless raised his head from where he was staring at the laptop and blinked at her innocently.

Iris didn't comment. She moved over to the bed and sat on the other side. "So, when are we now?"

Hiccup answered, absentmindedly gesturing for emphasis. "Apparently the dark ages. Appropriate name. Even Vikings lived better off than they did. They really forgot everything. I was working on a design for running water into houses a week before we were frozen, and hundreds of years later no one has done it yet." He seemed too distracted to dwell on the things he had lost at the moment, so that was said entirely neutrally.

The four watched in silence for a while. Skyler seemed to be daydreaming, and of course Hiccup and Toothless were trying to absorb what for them was literally the future unfolding. Iris was watching too, trying to think of what that must be like, to see what was going to happen, what did happen, long after you were supposed to be dead.

They took a break every couple of hours, but Hiccup insisted on finishing the recap. Toothless backed him up. Once the video had gotten to the 1900's, Iris shut it off.

"This is where stuff gets really complicated." She noted that Toothless seemed to perk up at that. He must have been a little bored. She continued. "Around now, technology started to take off. Things developed faster and faster, especially after certain devices increased the capability of humans to communicate with each other instantly from anywhere on Earth." She stared at Hiccup. "Imagine what you could discover and make if you were working with other people just like you, and all of you focused on one particular piece of a problem, instead of the entire thing."

Hiccup nodded. "That would make things so much quicker and easier. I'd get way more done."

Iris saw that he understood. "In the next hundred years, we did so much. We explored the entire Earth more efficiently than ever before. We got more and more intelligent about pretty much everything. As a whole. Most people are still about as smart as they were a thousand years ago, relatively speaking. But there were more and more people who questioned, who innovated, invented. So technology skyrocketed. We figured out a lot about how the world worked, from the universe as a whole to the smallest pieces of existence. Things were invented that could fly, on their own power. Not with wings, but with rotating blades, or engines. We even became capable of sending people to other planets." Here Iris pulled up a simple map of the solar system. "We've sent people to walk on and explore the moon, and even a couple of pieces of technology to Mars."

Toothless looked entirely flabbergasted. He knew what the moon was, and had even tried to fly there once in his youth. Needless to say, he never even got close. Hiccup was also shocked, but after everything he had learned, this wasn't too much of a stretch.

Iris put away the map and continued. "And we learned a lot about genetics, the study of stuff like DNA. That is one field we still don't fully understand today. But people as a whole haven't changed. They are still entirely capable of everything negative you know and despise. Greed, violence, aggression, hate. And every advancement gave them more options. We had a few World Wars. Millions of people died. But now..." This was the part that pertained directly to the people in this room.

Hiccup nodded. "You made so many amazing discoveries. But a lot of them can be used as weapons, can't they? When I proved dragons weren't mindless beasts, people immediately jumped on the idea of using them for war. I don't think that has changed. But you have so much more powerful tools now." He sounded weary.

Iris nodded. "In this case, it has to do with nuclear power, a way of making power that involves creating radiation as a side effect of the ingredients. A powerful source of energy, the same thing keeping this bunker powered indefinitely. It can be weaponized, and it has." She showed a picture of Nagasaki before World War Two. "This is the city of Nagasaki. Before." She showed one of the incinerated ruins of an entire city. "And after. One primitive nuclear warhead."

Toothless closed his eyes. He didn't seem to want to acknowledge the destruction.

Hiccup, on the other hand, forced himself to look. "That was one weapon. Used once. And an early one, a prototype?" He shook his head.

Iris continued. "And that is how we got to today. This bunker." She gestured around them. "Is entirely radiation-proof. Because of what that weapon can do." Now she could get to the part that concerned them all now. "Here's the situation today." She pulled up a map of the world. "Nuclear warheads can hit pretty much anywhere. And they can't be stopped. These countries have them." She tapped North Korea, Russia, America, Mexico, and about twenty other smaller countries, all over the world. "That we know of. There might be more. If one is fired, really for any reason, the allies of the country fired upon fire back. And so on. Pretty much nuking the entire world. Many of the warheads are a new kind of weapon, one that leaves clouds of radiation that drift for months before dissipating. Wiping out living things at random, following the wind. Random, unsurvivable, invisible clouds of death."

Toothless stared at the map, as did Hiccup. Then Hiccup seemed to realize something. "But that means no one can use them, because it would be mutually assured destruction." He sounded relieved.

Iris smiled sadly. "Yes. That applies to almost everyone. But accidents happen. Mistakes are made. Besides those possibilities, North Korea might fire anyway. They haven't always had the sanest leadership. The world could be mostly destroyed any day now."

Hiccup met her eyes. "But you don't seem that worried. Sad about it, yes, but not worried."

Iris smiled. "That would be where we come in."

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **And now we get to the big stuff. The main recap portion of the story is pretty much over, for anyone who was wondering.**


	6. Chapter 6

Toothless perked up. He might not like hearing about the end of the world, but Iris's tone was hopeful, almost optimistic.

"We are a group of talented scientists working for America. Our current president, President Teller, apparently has a plan to fix this whole situation. But we were gathered here a while before he even became President. We hope his plan works. But..." Iris trailed off, prompting Hiccup to continue.

Hiccup didn't disappoint. "But you guys are here doing something in case he fails. Expect the best, plan for the worst."

Iris smiled widely. "Exactly. We are one of ten such groups. Each group was given one goal: Preserve the future of intelligent life on Earth in event of nuclear war and its aftermath. As long as we work towards that, the resources of one of the most powerful countries on Earth are at our disposal, and no one supervises us. We report directly to the president. No one else even knows we exist."

Hiccup laughed. "So why are you telling us?"

Iris continued in an entirely serious tone. "Because I've hired you on. Both of you." She laughed. "At least, that's how I'm justifying giving you top security clearance. Hiccup, you would be our Viking expert, and Toothless is our dragon expert. But I listed you both as experts in Zoology, the study of animals. The only person who will ever see those titles is the President if he even bothers to look."

Toothless chortled. He woke Skyler up, as she had apparently fallen asleep at some point, and was leaning against him when he shook in laughter.

"What?" Skyler tried to remember where she was. Everyone else was focused on the conversation at hand.

"So what do these groups do?" Hiccup was interested now. He liked hearing about actual plans in case what sounded like near-Ragnarok level destruction happened.

Iris pulled up the groups' sites on her tablet. As she explained each group's goal, she pulled up pictures from their files. "Group one is building a massive bunker underground. They'll be done in three years, and it will be able to fit thousands of people. Group two and three are doing the same thing, but with multiple bunkers on a smaller scale. Groups four, five, six, and seven are freezing copies of every type of seed and plant in existence, along with unborn animals of every type they can get, and storing them in safe vaults around the country."

Hiccup and Toothless both nodded at that. "Like us, but intentionally." Hiccup had voiced the comparison they were both making.

"Exactly. But freezing actual people is too risky. So they have to stick to plants and animals. Group eight is trying to figure out an efficient way for people to live on Mars, but that is a really difficult task. There's no air up there, and almost no water. And it has massive sandstorms, not to mention being extremely cold. We're team nine, and team ten is building places for people to live underwater." Iris pulled up the video of the drilling. "You two might find this interesting."

Hiccup and Toothless watched in silence as their icy tomb was uncovered. Finally, Hiccup spoke. "So that would be how people found us."

Iris nodded. "We happened to be watching, and I convinced team ten to send you to us, so we could try to bring you back. We had no idea there were two people there, not one. Luckily we managed to save you both."

Hiccup scratched Toothless's head idly. He seemed to be thinking. "So what is the goal of this team, team nine?"

Skyler perked up. She knew what was coming.

Iris fidgeted nervously. It really sounded insane, but it had been a logical progression. "Originally, we were going to figure out a way to genetically modify humans to be immune to radiation. That way, people could survive the aftermath better."

Hiccup nodded. "It sounds insane, but not as crazy as going to the moon."

Iris sighed. "Problem is, it isn't possible. Not in the next ten years, anyway. And by our estimates, we have maybe another three years, probably much less. So we had to figure something else out. Modifying our bodies isn't an option, for a lot of reasons. But we do have certain technology available. So, we decided to try and design new bodies entirely. Ones already radiation-proof. We have the technology to move our actual brains into the new bodies instantly, so if we built them right, it should be possible."

Toothless's mouth had dropped open, and so had Hiccup's. The latter was the only one able to voice his astonishment. "You want to literally move your own brain to a new body of your own design... while still alive?"

Iris raised her hands defensively. "Hey, that part isn't a problem, funny enough. We've figured out how to do that quickly enough, though there were quite a few complications to deal with. It's the new body part that's a problem. We need them to be genetically similar to each other, but not identical. And that pretty much rules out building one from scratch. Believe me, we tried. Once we realized that, we were stuck. Because we would have to work off of a living subject, in order to figure out how to make genetically similar versions of the same life-form that weren't defective in ways we couldn't anticipate. But that meant we were stuck with currently living animals, and none of them have a language or are even close to smart enough to copy. We needed an example that wasn't human, had some sort of resistance to radiation and was intelligent enough to have its own language. Because we're trying to preserve intelligent life in any form, and any offspring of that form needs to be able to communicate with each other. There was nothing on Earth that met those requirements." She stared at Toothless.

Hiccup thought he understood now what she was getting at. "But Toothless is intelligent and has his own language. I think." Skyler mumbled something about that, but Hiccup didn't hear her. He was just sure Toothless could speak somehow. "But is he resistant to radiation?"

Iris laughed. "We used an X-ray to see what was inside Toothless's stomach before either of you woke up, to find out what he eats. The doctor in charge of that told me later that she had to override the machine's safety settings because it wasn't able to penetrate Toothless's scales. She eventually had to amp it up a ridiculous amount just to get through. X-rays are a safer type of radiation. He's already mostly radiation-proof. By the doctor's estimates, as long as he avoided going within ten miles of the actual impact site, ambient radiation from nuclear explosions shouldn't affect him. And by extension, any Night Fury. That's good enough." She frowned. "I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, so I asked the doctor not to tell anyone else that. Because at that point we didn't know you fit our other requirements."

There was silence. Hiccup spoke up after a few minutes. "So... you want to make bodies of Night Furies... and transfer your minds into them?" He frowned. "Won't there already be minds in there if you grow more Furies?"

Iris was able to answer that question easily. "No, there won't. We would just grow Night Furies from eggs, but we don't have time to do that. So the bodies we're going to make will be adults, but just shells. No mental capacity whatsoever. There'll be a brain, but it will be blank and dormant. That's why we needed a living specimen. To see how the brain was supposed to interact with the body normally, among other things. The specimen and the creature type in question already had to be sentient so that the brain would go through all of the related processes."

"Basically, you're going to turn yourselves into Night Furies. If all of this works." Hiccup sounded almost excited by that.

Toothless stared at Skyler. He then made eye contact with Iris, as if asking a question.

Iris thought she was pretty sure what it was. "Yes, most of us are willing to do this. There are a few team members who wouldn't, but we are not among that group. We were willing to do this when we thought we would have to design a new body entirely." She shuddered. "Even when that body started to resemble a cockroach, which is a bug known for its difficulty to kill, several of us were still behind it. Luckily, the more squeamish of us decided to veto that particular design."

Toothless seemed slightly stunned.

Hiccup, on the other hand, had a few more questions. "What would all of this mean for Toothless? Besides not being the only Night Fury."

"He'd have to go through some harmless body scans, spend a few hours in a special hybrid MRI scanner having his brain monitored, and that's about it. Oh, and help Skyler decode his language, just for future reference in the meantime. But we couldn't start any of that until after he recovers from the tail surgery, except for the language part."

"MRI?" Hiccup shook his head. "What does that mean?"

"It's a machine that basically uses magnets to look inside someone's head, and see what's going on in there, safely." This one was a bit different, but that was the general idea.

Hiccup stared at Toothless. "You good with all of that?"

Toothless barked happily. He was clearly fine with anything that meant he wouldn't be the last Night Fury.

Hiccup smiled. "Alright then, count us in." Then something occurred to him. "You do realize you might be replacing the human race, right?" Night Furies were stronger, faster, bigger, and more capable in almost every way. So that was a distinct possibility, even of humanity did survive the long-term effects of nuclear war.

Skyler chose this point to speak up. "We were tasked to protect intelligent life. No one specified humans. Besides, no one says we'd have to replace them. We could live side by side. Two intelligent species, working together." She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "But if we do replace them, who cares? Humans made this mess, and by all appearances drove all dragons to extinction, apparently. Maybe it's the dragons' turn." That was almost bitter. "We haven't really shown much empathy as a species so far. We're trashing the planet, causing extinctions, fighting wars... maybe taking on a different form will let us do better? It can't hurt."

Hiccup nodded. He was feeling quite understandably jaded about humanity's actions as a whole. Dragons were gone, everyone he ever knew was possibly killed by Drago after he and Toothless were frozen, and this world was in imminent danger of being trashed. "Like I said, we're in. On one condition."

Toothless looked at him questioningly.

Hiccup smiled. "Count me in on all of it. Including the 'turning into a Night Fury' part. I might as well, it isn't like I have anything to lose." He reconsidered that, looking at Toothless. "Except you, of course."

Toothless glared at Hiccup for a moment before licking him.

Iris frowned. "Once we know it works. Someone will have to be the first, but we'll figure that out when the time comes." It was possible Hiccup would be the perfect first test subject, but she was pretty sure Toothless wouldn't let that happen. The dragon was by all appearances extremely protective of his human friend.

At that moment, Abdul entered the room. He looked a bit flustered. "Iris, we've got a situation. Apparently, the guys from team ten got a message from their boss. President Teller is taking a tour of all the teams' work. They weren't supposed to tell us, but he figured he should given our, um, situation. The President could show up at any time."

Hiccup frowned. "How much does he know about this?"

Abdul answered him. "All the President knows is that we were supposed to genetically modify humans to be radiation resistant... and that that isn't possible in time. He knows we're exploring 'alternative solutions'. And that's pretty much it."

Skyler continued the chain of thought. "And he might not like where we've gone with that."

Iris nodded. "True. If we tell the entire truth."

Toothless laughed, a sound that made Abdul flinch. He seemed immensely entertained by all of this.

Hiccup thought he knew what Iris meant. "Can we just show him Toothless... and tell him that he's radiation-proof? Let him draw his own conclusions."

Iris smiled. "Even that's too risky. But there's a bit more to it than that..." She explained her reasoning.

* * *

The group moved out to the cafeteria, and Iris called a meeting. She explained that Toothless was already radiation-resistant and that he and Hiccup had officially joined their group. She also explained that the President might stop by at any time, and the plan for when that happened. It was a bit complex, but they were all intelligent individuals. They understood the fine line they needed to tread in that event. The team members from team ten posed for a few group pictures with Hiccup and Toothless, a process Toothless thoroughly enjoyed once it was explained to him, and left afterward. They didn't want to be around when the President got there, whenever that might be. The rest of the scientists returned to their work. Now that they had a concrete plan, and they knew what they needed to be done, everyone had a million things to do towards that goal.

For Hiccup and Toothless, that mostly meant learning as much English as possible. Toothless worked closely with Skyler, as she was using the opportunity to start gathering data on how Toothless spoke. Hiccup was also involved, though he had to practice speaking as well as simply understanding, and thus fell a bit behind in the process. Iris worked with him when she could. All the while, the new tailfin slowly grew in the small vat.

That time also involved some practical aspects of adjusting to modern day culture, at least for Hiccup.

"What is this?" Hiccup held up a strangely shaped piece of fabric.

"Jeans." The scientist who had dropped off the clothes was trying not to laugh at Hiccup's considering expression. "People don't really wear leather armor in this day and age. I figured you could use a change of clothes, and I think we're about the same size."

Hiccup looked at the man who had introduced himself as Sammael. "Are they fireproof?"

"Well, no."

"Not a good idea, at least for me." Hiccup smirked. "Living with a fire-breathing reptile means I need to be a bit more careful. He even sneezes fire every once in a while."

Sammael gestured to the other clothing. "Well, you need something besides what you have on you. Clothing is mostly flammable now. What do you suggest?" His tone was slightly exasperated.

Hiccup reconsidered the clothes. "Fine. And thank you. But if I go up like a torch because of this, I blame you." He took the pile. "Any other things I need to change while we're at it?"

Sammael took it as a serious question. "Well, you're getting a handle on English, which is what we all speak. I assume someone showed you how our bathrooms worked. And food is sorted. I don't think there is anything else."

Hiccup brightened as a thought struck him. "You know, I know nothing about the world."

"I thought Iris explained all of that."

"Technology, the state of how we're all apparently doomed, and a few little things." Hiccup gestured with his hands, making a small circle in the air. "But how do people act, live, work, relax? The stuff I can't really find out or see here because this place is different anyway." He made a much larger circle. "I see a little bit, but the big picture is missing."

Sammael nodded, understanding what Hiccup meant. "There's so much, in that case."

The next hour was one of the most confusing in Hiccup's life. Sammael, with the aid of the internet, did his best to explain things such as cars, politics, video games, restaurants, and all the little minutia of daily life. By the end of that hour, Sammael was regretting ever going down that rabbit-hole. Hiccup looked shell-shocked, and he had barely begun to explain.

"Are you okay?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Yes. No. Maybe. There's just so much, half of which I wished we had back in my time, and the other half I'm glad we didn't. People can do so much... good and bad. And just plain weird or legitimately crazy."

Sammael nodded. "People will be people. You can't really have one side of the coin without the other." Something occurred to him. "It probably doesn't really matter."

"How so?"

"Think about it. We're in here until the nuclear war. And once that happens, most of this stuff won't really exist anymore." Sammael shook his head. "And the only nearby town doesn't have anything like all of this. Some houses, a bar, a bowling alley, and that's about it. We're out here for isolation, among other things."

Hiccup seemed to take some sort of reassurance from that. "Sounds like my home, but less successful. Do they have a good view of the sunset?" His tone definitely implied that the question was a joke.

It had been ten days since the vat had started growing Toothless's replacement tailfin. Iris figured Hiccup and Toothless would want to see it. She herself had been monitoring the growth, and everything looked right. She took them into the lab, Toothless trailing behind her and Hiccup. They stopped in front of the vat.

Hiccup stared at the tailfin, floating in roughly the center of the green-tinged liquid. It looked... disturbing. But that was because it was basically a detached body part at this point. He forced a thin smile. "Seeing it like this... really drives home what Toothless lost that night. What I destroyed." He sounded thoughtful. "And you're giving it back." All of this was said in English, though every few words he would need to stop and think, or just say one in Norse. Even with ten days of constant studying and practice, one does not learn a language that fast.

Toothless nudged him. When Hiccup looked back at him, he moved his tailfin into view. He looked at it, then Hiccup, quite deliberately before closing his eyes, and putting his head towards Hiccup. The message was clear. Toothless thought losing a tailfin was worth it.

That didn't mean he wasn't excited to get it back. He circled the vat, looking at the fin from all angles. He even tried to smell it, before realizing it was sealed in glass, and couldn't be smelled.

Iris laughed. Then she saw Hiccup, who still looked a bit sad. "Don't see this as your own failure. This is only possible because you two survived, and did it together. Without you, Toothless would be long gone by now, from old age if nothing else." She didn't want Hiccup to feel like he had failed where modern technology succeeded.

Hiccup laughed at the sight of Toothless's excited face, warped by the curvature of the glass. "I'm just happy to finally see this fixed. He hasn't flown on his own since he used the automatic fin."

Toothless heard that and sighed thoughtfully.

Iris led them out of the room. "We'll be ready to operate tomorrow morning. You two should relax until then. Maybe burn off some energy."

Toothless looked at Hiccup. Hiccup spoke for them both. "We'll be in the oxygen-generating room."

Iris laughed as they set off. It looked like Toothless was going to be running in the near future. She moved over to Skyler's office. "Anyone here?"

Skyler walked out, carrying a few earpieces. "Not anymore." She was smiling broadly.

Iris hoped that meant what she thought it did. "You have it yet?" Skyler had been working on getting the computer to figure out Toothless's language from the words he knew in both English and what Skyler referred to as 'Dragonese', though no one else called it that. It had been slow going.

Skyler beamed her face tired but radiating excitement. "Maybe. I think so. Where is Toothless? I want to test it."

"You'll have to wait a bit longer. He's running in the oxygen generator. Good luck getting him to slow down enough to talk."

* * *

They ended up waiting for Toothless to finish his run.

When the dragon stopped running, he found three beaming humans waiting for him. He happily walked over to them.

Skyler put an earpiece in her ear and waited. Finally, she spoke. "Toothless. This is my first attempt, so it might not work very well. Say something in your language." She waited.

"Yes. I talk anyway. Habit. Even when no one understands." There were strange pauses interspersed, indicating that some of the words were the computer guessing, and pauses where it had no translation or even guess. It still worked. Kind of.

"It works! Mostly. We can make it better." She relayed to Toothless what she had heard. He shrugged, which she took to mean 'close enough'.

"Good first try." That was what he actually said, which Skyler heard once the translator acted.

Skyler laughed. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"Why you want to be like me?" Toothless was crooning inquisitively.

Skyler stopped moving. "What do you mean?" She wondered if the translator was working as well as she thought.

"You all want be not human. Be something better. But you want be like me. Not just anything, like me. Why?" Toothless seemed sure of this.

Skyler wasn't sure what he had singled out as different about her. He had interacted with everyone in the bunker in the past week. But he thought she was different. "I'm not sure I understand."

Toothless huffed. "I ask again once machine better. We work on that?" He seemed hopeful now.

Skyler nodded. "Yeah, we can do that. Want to start now?" She had the tablet she worked with on her. She pulled it out.

"In moment. Can I talk to Hiccup?" Toothless sounded hopeful.

Skyler realized that she was getting the impression of his tone from his vocalizations, while the voice in her ear was toneless because it was just the computer translating. "Sure." She tossed an earpiece to Hiccup, who eagerly put it in.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup seemed slightly overwhelmed. "Yeah, I can hear you." This was something he'd been trying to do for years, without success.

"I blame you for nothing. Thank you for everything. We talk more once this machine better. Just want you to know that." Toothless had moved closer.

Skyler pulled out her earpiece. This felt a bit too personal to be listening in on.

A few moments later, Hiccup embraced Toothless.

After that, Skyler and Toothless sat down in the oxygen generation room and started expanding the computer's vocabulary. They were soon absorbed in the roundabout process. Skyler would have the computer say a word in Old Norse and record the meaning in English. Then Toothless would say the word in his language, and the computer would add it to the database.

Meanwhile, Hiccup and Iris sat nearby and watched. Neither of them knew what Toothless had asked Skyler.

"Are you okay?" Iris wasn't referring to what had just happened. Hiccup had seemed a bit off before that.

"I'm getting there. I think I still haven't fully realized that everyone and everything I know are all just gone. This all feels like some weird dream. A great dream, in some ways, but still. I'm trying not to think about it like that. It's not like they all just suddenly died. I died, from their perspective. And they probably lived full and happy lives after they got over that." He clenched his fist and continued.

"I wish I could believe that. But then I remember exactly what was going on before Toothless and I were frozen. And I can't entirely believe they all just destroyed Drago and went on with their lives. I hate not knowing what happened."

Iris thought she knew what might help. "Does it matter which one happened? If you can't ever know, then you should have faith your friends and family pulled through. What would they have said if they heard you doubt them?"

Hiccup laughed. "Good point. I probably would have gotten a black eye if Astrid heard me doubt her ability to trounce Drago without me around." He slumped. "How do I deal with this? It doesn't feel like they are gone. I feel like we left them, and if we could find a way back, they'd still be there."

Iris sighed. "That is something everyone wants at some point. To go back. But it's the one thing we never will be able to do."

Hiccup shifted his sitting position. "How do you know that?"

Iris laughed softly. "Easy. Right now, what we're doing, is historic. This whole thing. Toothless, if no one else, will be remembered as an intelligent non-human. That will make him famous in the future. And if time travel is ever accomplished, eventually someone will show up here, wanting to meet him. A lot of people would, if time travel ever existed, because that kind of thing wouldn't stay secret for long. And I don't see any mob of screaming fans around him right now, do you?"

Hiccup didn't argue that. But he did have a thought. "But given what we're doing... would they be humans or Night Furies? Or both?"

Iris laughed. "That'd be something to see. Toothless surrounded by a screaming mob of Night Fury fans."

They both watched as Toothless and Skyler continued their translation efforts.

Eventually, Iris spoke. "I don't know how you can come to terms with all of it. But you can remember. And you can think of all of this, after the ice, as a new life. One unconnected to the old. That way, you don't feel like you're betraying them by being happy." She felt like this was important. "Think of it as starting anew. A new life, a new world, probably a new body..."

Hiccup slumped, discouraged. "That's good advice. I'll try. But it's going to take some time." He seemed to want to change the subject. "What about you? Any family out there?"

Iris sighed. That was not where she wanted the conversation to go. "Nope. Parents dead by age five in a car accident, raised in foster care, then went to school and supported myself. It's actually a quite common story among the people in the bunker. None of us have much in the way of close family. It was part of the job requirements because the bunker can only support so many people. So this project recruited from among the young, idealistic and talented scientists who fit that description." She laughed. "Given we're going to need to be the parents of a new species, it's probably a good thing none of us have much in the way of outside attachments. That'd be really difficult to explain to a significant other outside the bunker."

Hiccup was slowly turning red. "Uhh, that's a long way off. You guys don't have anything planned, do you...?" He seemed almost nervous at the answer.

Iris laughed. "Besides making sure no one gets stuck in the wrong type of body, no. We figure we'll deal with it when the issue arises. There will be enough to adjust to at first, without having to worry about that."

Hiccup laughed nervously along with her. "True. You guys realize Toothless is going to have to teach you pretty much everything, right?"

Iris nodded somberly. "That's one of the reasons we'll start working on making the first Night Fury as soon as Toothless has recovered from the surgery. We need him healthy to do the scans, and that means both tailfins. I figure we'll transfer one person as soon as it's ready, to test the process. Then we'll fine-tune the process. Toothless can work with that person while we do that. Once nuclear war begins, that's when we start churning them out." She shifted, twisting her wrist idly. "I still don't know who's going to be the first. They'll have to be willing to accept the risk that comes with being the first to have their entire brain instantly transplanted. We think it'll work, we've run a million tests, but there's still the slightest chance it'll go wrong." The unspoken fact that Toothless wouldn't let Hiccup go first was well understood.

Hiccup had wondered about this part. He had been mostly brought up to speed on modern technology, including some less relevant items, such as the most accurate world simulator, a program born originally as a computer game known as Dwarf Fortress, or the development of 'water jetpacks', along with a ridiculous amount of random things courtesy of Sammael, but he had never been told of anything capable of what Iris described. "How does that work, anyway?"

Iris responded absently, her mind on something else. "A scientist recently discovered how to, well for lack of a better word let's say 'teleport', matter short distances instantly. Which is great, but really impractical because it uses a ridiculous amount of energy. Like, the reactor powering this entire base would take a week to recharge the battery after one use, ridiculous. Two weeks if we didn't divert everything the reactor produced to the battery, so we could live here in the meantime. The process is so fast it even moves electrical charges, which is why it will work on a human brain. Basically, we just make sure the machine is aimed at exactly the right spot, and also move in some splints to connect the brain to the rest of the body at the same time. There are a thousand little complicated details, but we've got those covered. Like finding somewhere to put the blank Fury brain and empty human body." She shuddered. "Actually, that's going to be really weird. What do we do with those?"

Hiccup laughed. "You should freeze them, and leave them here. Maybe someone will find them someday."

Iris smiled. "Hey, you never know. We might need them for something. I think we will freeze them."

They turned back to watch the two linguists. Hiccup was watching the way Skyler and Toothless interacted.

He smiled. "I think I know who's going to volunteer when that time comes." He saw Iris nod out of the corner of his eye.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **In response to this guest's review; "** **SunnySides: Believable and well written don't always go hand in hand, ESPECIALLY if one attempts a Modern HTTYD. Somehow, you're doing it. I just wish that you updated more often than weekly."**

 **Thank you for that compliment. Though, that is partly the work of toothlessgolfer, who helps with minor logic and plot errors along with the technical part of writing. IAs for believable… we'll see if you still stick to that opinion now that you've read this chapter. Hey, at least it will be well-written either way, right? Hopefully.**

 **Also, a general note. If anyone sees an inaccuracy, either in logic or science, please feel free to point it out through review or PM. I can't guarantee I'll fix it, as some inaccuracies are conscious compromises on my part to preserve plot coherency, but some might just be a true mistake that I can go back and correct.**


	7. Chapter 7

"It's time." The doctor said this calmly. She was standing in the middle of the operating room. Her fellow doctors were stationed at other parts of the room, ready to begin the procedure.

Toothless was called for. He and Hiccup walked into the room. They were both extremely nervous and for the same reasons.

The doctors had been informed of Hiccup's intention to stay during the operation, but the head doctor wanted to be sure. "Are you certain you can handle this? Operations aren't fun to watch."

Hiccup smiled slightly. "Yes, I'm sure." He wasn't planning on watching the actual operation anyway. He just wanted to sit by Toothless's head and wait. It was the least he could do.

Toothless purred softly. He hopped onto the operating table without prompting. The actual table he was sitting on had been brought from storage and was a bulky construct of iron. It had to be to support his weight. He arranged himself so that his tail was laid out flat on the actual operating table, which was adjacent to his table, and settled down into a sleeping posture.

Hiccup sat on the table next to him and smiled down at the Night Fury, whose head was just below his elbow. "This is going to turn out fine. I'll be here the whole time." He started gently scratching behind the dragon's ears.

The doctor approached, with an oversized face mask they had custom-designed in the last few days. She gently placed it over Toothless's nose and mouth. "Breath in, and relax."

Toothless did as he was told, and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep. It was so deep his claws didn't even twitch while he slept.

The doctor checked Toothless's vital signs. "He's out. We've got six hours. Let's move." She watched officiously as one of the other doctors wheeled in the vat and its contents.

That was when Hiccup stopped watching. He had no desire to see them cut Toothless's tail open, even if it was for a good cause. He tried to ignore the sounds, and concentrate on his sleeping friend's face. It was hard, but he managed. He spent the next few hours imagining Toothless flying with both tailfins. It was something he had thought he would never get to see.

* * *

Iris was slightly panicking. "Of all days, he shows up now?! When our entire medical staff is in the middle of performing surgery on a dragon? That's the day the President picks to visit?!" Her carefully devised plan was falling out of the window.

Skyler nodded numbly. She had just got out of communications with the President. He'd be there in under half an hour. The surgery was going to last at least three more hours, probably more like five.

Iris made a decision. "Skyler, go tell everyone. No one goes into the operating room, no matter what. Don't even tell anyone in there what's happening. They don't need the distraction. We're going to keep the President out of the South wing entirely. And tell everyone to remember what we'll be saying, and what we won't!" She prepared the big meeting room, and hurriedly edited some of her planned presentations. Obviously, the President was going to expect some rushed status update, given the time he thought he was giving her to work with, but Iris had plenty of forewarning. She forced herself to calm down, and prepare to withhold quite a bit of the truth from the one person who was capable of shutting them down on a whim. He'd only been in office for a few weeks, why was he doing this now? It didn't matter. She was prepared.

President Teller whistled appreciatively as the motorcade stopped in front of the bunker entrance. The bunker was in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, and only reachable by a gravel road. It wasn't at all impressive from the outside. Just a small and squat dome. But he knew a bit about what was there, so he was still impressed.

"Alright boys, this is as far as you go." Teller was enjoying the rare privilege of leaving his ever-present security behind. Even they didn't have the clearance for this. Besides, what danger could lurk inside a hidden bunker filled with weedy scientists? He was probably going to be the only person there with any muscle whatsoever. Not that he was particularly strong, but at least he worked out. These guys probably never saw the light of day. Besides, he wasn't going alone. He turned to the other person in the car. "Ready to see what this team has been doing?"

The man in the car was somewhat short and squat. He had far more fat than muscle and looked as a whole decidedly unhealthy. But he was a personal friend of Teller's and a moderately experienced geneticist. Teller figured the only struggling team in the project couldn't refuse some extra help, whether or not Professor Morian was exactly up to their standards. Besides, he owed Morian a favor, and a cushy job in a bunker seemed like a pretty good one.

Morian scoffed. "Whatever these so-called geniuses have scraped up to show us. You could at least have given them time to prepare some half-decent exaggerations." He was of a low opinion of any project that reported nothing but 'investigating alternative solutions'.

Teller chided him. "It's not a very good idea to think so badly of your future colleagues."

The two men stepped out of the car and approached the bunker door. It opened as they did. Teller smiled charmingly as he saw a young woman of apparently somewhat Spanish descent standing inside the doorway. "Ah, would you be miss Skyler Hermanez?" He didn't pay much attention to the exchange of names and qualifications, though he saw the woman eying Morian almost suspiciously. He didn't tell her why Morian was here, and Morian said nothing beyond introducing himself.

The group stood inside the bunker, and Skyler shut the blast doors. Once it was entirely sealed, the whole floor began descending. The bunker was built with security in mind, and this was the only way down. It took a full minute for the floor to reach the ground level. Skyler led the two men to a nearby meeting room.

Teller was slightly disappointed. The other teams had given tours. Still, he supposed this team didn't really have anything to give a tour of. They weren't building anything. Their job was on the cellular level.

He and Morian sat down at the table. There were already about fifteen or so scientists seated there.

Skyler took a seat at one edge of the table. Far away from Morian. She noticed the other scientists glance at him skeptically, and possibly a bit nervously. He was an unknown factor, one they weren't anticipating.

Iris began her presentation. It was a patchwork collection of vague statements, half-truths, cover-ups, and downright lies. She gave the impression that the team was still looking for ways around the genetic impossibilities of redesigning the human body to be radiation-resistant. She had used the old ideas and suggestions for this part and neglected to explain that every proposed possible solution had already been proven impossible or impractical. This was the presentation they would have been giving if Hiccup and Toothless hadn't been discovered. But it would have been a lot less downright cover-up and more wishful thinking back then.

It went off without a hitch. President Teller looked entirely impressed, and Iris was already inwardly celebrating when he stood.

"Well, this seems quite promising, despite the setbacks. I must say, I think this is the most ambitious of all the projects."

Iris smiled. He had no idea just how ambitious it really was.

Then Teller continued, and she had to fight to keep the smile on her face. "I have actually brought you some extra help, in the form of Professor Morian here. He will be happy to assist you in this endeavor." He gestured to Morian, who declined to stand. "On that note, I saw that your team has recently expanded, with the addition of two new scientists. Which of you are the newest members?" He looked around. "Actually, are some of you missing? I distinctly recall there being twenty-two of you total now. Twenty-three, with the addition of Morian."

Iris thought fast. "Yes, actually. One of our two new members had a somewhat major medical emergency. The group's doctors are dealing with that as we speak. They are actually in surgery at the moment. Our other new member is in there with them. It isn't life-threatening, but it couldn't wait either. They had just started when we received word of your visit." She would deal with the unwelcome addition of Morian once the President left.

Teller sighed. "Well, tell them I said hello. What are they experts of, anyway?"

Iris struggled to keep a straight face. "They are both experts in Zoology. We decided some insight into natural defense mechanisms and animal traits would be useful to have. They've already been extremely helpful."

Teller seemed to accept this. "Well, good luck all of you." He left the room, escorted by a very nervous Skyler. She wasn't normally a nervous person but deceiving the President of the United States was apparently getting to her.

Once they had left, Iris turned slowly to Professor Morian, who was sitting there looking bored. And snobbish. But that seemed to be a constant for him. Quite a contrast to the mostly fit and fairly young group of scientists he had just been added to. "So, care to introduce yourself at all?" She tried to keep the hostility out of her tone, but just a bit slipped through.

Morian grunted. "I suppose you would be the one in charge around here?" He said that mockingly. "And what qualifications do you have, little girl?"

Iris bristled. She was nearly twenty-six, how dare he call her a little girl! "I have a masters in biology, and I spent quite a while assisting in running this very project before our last team leader passed away suddenly. Not to mention it was a unanimous decision among the team to have me promoted when that happened. I lead by qualifications and by popular support. And if you intend to stay, that means you follow my orders. Got it?"

Morian smirked. "Calm down girl. And I am here officially in an advisory capacity, so I do not report to you. We can discuss this later. Suppose you tell me where my room is right now, and I'll speak to you later."

Iris really wished Toothless wasn't unconscious on the operating table right now. She would have loved to introduce Morian to him, teeth and all. Then again, Morian clearly planned on staying a while... "Certainly. Your room, I'm sorry to say, will have to be in the North wing. Our rooms in the South wing are all occupied at the moment. There are exactly twenty-two of them. I'm sure Abdul and Skyler can help you with that. Maybe the storage room next to the one we just recently started using?"

Abdul smirked as he got the message. That would be the empty room right next to Toothless's fish storage area. Far from anyone else in the bunker, and sure to smell of fish. "Certainly. We do have a few spare cots, I'll go put one in there."

Morian did not look pleased with this turn of events, but he realized objecting when Iris was being the picture of hospitality would make him look bad. He didn't seem to realize absolutely none of the scientists could think any less of him after the way he had treated Iris. To them, he served as an unwelcome reminder that their group was special in both quality of intelligence and character. He represented all that was wrong with most scientists and politicians. Rude, arrogant, narrow-minded, and lazy.

He slowly moved out of the room, following Abdul. Iris sent two of the sneakier scientists to make sure Morian didn't wind up anywhere near the operating room when they wheeled Toothless back to his room to recover.

She addressed the remaining portion of the group, which now included Skyler. "What the hell are we going to do with him?"

A female scientist spoke up. "Can't we just kick him out?"

Skyler responded. "Nope. He'd waddle crying to the President, and that'd bring us way too much attention." She smirked.

Iris laughed darkly. "I'm tempted to just introduce him to Toothless once he wakes up. Or even Hiccup, with that sword of his. But then we'd have to deal with the body. And no matter how repugnant and insulting he is, I don't think we should kill him. And I highly doubt he would understand or agree with our real goal."

Another scientist responded to that. "So we can't kill him, we can't force him to leave... can we just ignore him and hope he gets bored and leaves on his own?"

Someone scoffed. "Look at him. he clearly just wants a cushy hiding spot for the end of the world. He looks like a bureaucratic scientist, the kind that makes a living swarming on every spelling mistake in scientific discoveries." They didn't know it, but that actually was exactly what Morian wanted, and what he did for a living.

There was a general rumble of discontent in the room. No one knew how to deal with this new issue.

Then Skyler spoke up. "Can we just intimidate him? He seems like someone who'd be easily frightened. Give him an enemy, someone to scare him off, but make it embarrassing enough that he won't tell the President why he left."

Iris nodded. "That might work. But who?" She looked around the room. "We aren't exactly an intimidating group, and Toothless obviously can't do this."

Someone spoke up. "What about Hiccup? He's fought in a war or two and is missing a leg. He could probably scare Morian. And he would have a great source of motivation. Morian is a direct threat to his best friend." They laughed. "He might not even need his sword."

Iris nodded. Hiccup wasn't the intimidating type, but Morian didn't know that. That could work.

The scientists scattered. Some of them were going to hide incriminating evidence of their real activities. Others were going to pull up pieces of the old experiments. And the rest were going to make sure Morian didn't step within eyeshot of the medical bay or operating room.

That last group need not have bothered. It took Morian several hours to get his spare room arranged as he wanted, even with Abdul's (intentionally inefficient) assistance. He was understandably quite annoyed when he finally made it to the cafeteria for a late lunch.

Iris was there at that moment. She wasn't eating and was instead checking her watch. She had stationed someone outside the operating room, ready to go in the moment they were done and inform them of the situation. They'd wheel Toothless to his room, and then, for dramatic effect...

The doors swung open. Iris watched Morian's face as the three doctors entered, still in their bloodstained medical gear. It enhanced the effect that apparently dragon blood was a subtly deeper shade of red, making even the slightest stain look gruesome. It was completely against medical practice to do this, but the doctors didn't mind, once informed of the situation. Morian's face was turning an unhealthy shade of white. He looked nauseous.

The head doctor smiled tiredly. "I'm happy to announce that Mr. Fury will make a complete recovery, though it took longer than we were expecting. His bones were unexpectedly difficult to graft back together. That took two of us, one for each end." That was the complete truth, and the head doctor really was as tired as she looked.

Morian abruptly ran for the nearest trash can. He missed the doctors leaving, and the general cheer their announcement elicited from the rest of the cafeteria.

A minute later, Morian was back in his seat, though he wasn't eating anymore. He had a very angry and still slightly sick expression.

Iris smirked. Perfect. Hiccup had apparently been quite eager to play his part, once the messenger had told him what was going on. She was surprised he had waited this long.

The doors opened again, and this time Morian flinched slightly. Hiccup walked in, with a deceptively pleasant expression on his face. He apparently absent-mindedly took a piece of bread from the kitchen area and sat down across from Morian.

Morian looked affronted at that. "And who exactly are you?" He sniffed as he said this, taking in the fact that Hiccup couldn't have been a day over twenty-two by his apparently youthful appearance.

Hiccup smiled politely. "Haddock." He held his hand out. When Morian reluctantly took it, he shook it vehemently. Morian actually winced as he pulled his hand away.

Iris took in Hiccup's genuinely surprised expression. He really must not have intended that to hurt. She probably should have warned him how soft unfit political scientists could be. He was used to Vikings or young, moderately fit people. Still, that didn't hurt the impression he was trying to make.

"What kind of name is that?"

Hiccup laughed. "Better than my first name. And you would be?"

Morian seemed unsettled by Hiccup's complete lack of response to his insult. "Professor Morian. Geneticist."

Hiccup smiled disarmingly. "Oh, do you have a masters in genetics, like Abdul?" He knew very well thanks to a quick internet search by one of the doctors that Morian did not.

Morian scowled. "I have forty years of experience in the field."

"Forty years of experience? A lot must have changed in that time. I don't think anything but the last ten years really counts at this point. progress makes everything past that obsolete. Especially in a field like genetics." Hiccup had learned well in the time he spent catching up on the last thousand years. Especially since he had done extra reading after the true nature of the project had been revealed, mostly into genetics. He was fairly well versed in the basics, enough to bluff his way along.

Morian was getting really annoyed now. "And who would you be to tell me that? A zoologist has no room to talk about a much more difficult and complex subject."

Hiccup idly moved the piece of bread he had brought over as he responded, his voice deceptively cheerful. "I'm not just a zoologist. I also work with my hands. I build things. Tools, equipment, weapons..." That last one was said with a slightly darker smile.

Morian blanched ever so slightly. "Weapons? What kind of scientist builds weapons as a hobby?" He seemed genuinely offended at the idea.

Hiccup pulled out the hilt of Inferno. "Not guns, more impractical things. In this day and age, anyway. A thousand years ago, this thing would have been pretty intimidating. It still is now, but it wouldn't be much help against a gun." He startled Morian immensely by triggering the blade.

Morian scooted his chair back at that. "You have one with you?! Here?!" He was a coward at heart, and the idea that someone around him was armed and dangerous did not sit well with him.

Hiccup nodded. "Never know when you'll need a collapsible blade that can light itself on fire." He retracted the blade and put the hilt away. "So, what are you doing here?" His voice was for the first time entirely serious, and not at all absent-minded. "Because we don't need you."

Morian was at this point completely off-balance, and Hiccup's sudden change in demeanor unnerved him entirely. "I'm a geneticist. Why wouldn't I be here?"

Hiccup scowled. "Because we already have more than three geneticists, all of whom are far more qualified than you. And you don't seem at all interested in actually working with our team leader. So, why are you really here?"

Morian regained a bit of confidence as he remembered who had gotten him into this bunker. "The President assigned me to advise because this team is currently failing." He said that with a sneer. "I think personally that you might be overpaid. I can have the President look at your salary if you like?" That was said menacingly.

Hiccup looked puzzled. He turned towards Iris's table and called out to her. "Iris, am I getting paid? I honestly have no idea."

Iris, who had been discretely following the conversation, tried to answer with a straight face. "Other than room and board, not really. I think I set you up to get minimum wage because that was the lowest setting the computer accepted."

Hiccup laughed. "Fine by me." He turned back to Morian. "Still think I'm overpaid?"

Morian was at a loss for words. What kind of person didn't even know if they were making money at their own job? Not just that he didn't know, he seemed to not even care if he was working for free! "Why are you here?" That was said in a tone of utter confusion, with none of Morian's usual snobbery.

Hiccup smiled. "I believe in what we're doing, and I have some very specific knowledge that can help. Far more than anything you could contribute. You should request a transfer, maybe to teams four, five, six, or seven. They probably could use a mediocre geneticist to sort through the records." That was the end-goal of this. Those teams might actually be able to use Morian, as their job required more time than exceptional talent. And Morian would be safely away from the secrets of team nine.

Morian wasn't sure how to respond. He knew very well that if he transferred over there, he would actually have to work. Here, he had thought to get away with some fairly useless and sporadic 'advice' while he waited out his dim-witted friend Teller's inevitable failure to defuse the massive mess the world had become. He wouldn't give up what he was sure would be a life of relative luxury just because some weird Zoologist told him to. "I think not. Now, if you'll excuse me." He moved to get up.

Hiccup stood as he did. He intentionally took a heavy step forward, drawing Morian's eyes to his prosthetic leg. He met Morian's stare as he looked up. "It was bitten off. Interestingly enough, that was done in order to save my life. I would have burned alive if I hadn't been pulled by the leg to safety." He neglected to mention the fact that they were both in free-fall at the time, or who had done the biting. Let Morian assume what he wanted.

Morian paled. He left the cafeteria without another word. Hiccup went to the door after a moment and made sure Morian was heading to the North wing, and his makeshift room. He returned to the cafeteria.

Iris started clapping. "Quite the performance."

Hiccup grimaced. "Not really my style, intimidating people, but from what I heard he deserved it." The messenger had also told Hiccup how Morian had treated Iris, though Iris hadn't told him to relay that. "What next? I don't think he's just going to transfer."

Abdul, who was sitting at a nearby table, smiled as he answered that question. "Any time you aren't with Toothless in the next few weeks, find Morian. Hang around, make sure he knows you are around... all the time, randomly. Basically, make sure he remembers exactly who else is in the bunker with him. But try to make it look unintended, if possible."

Iris added to that with a faint smile of her own. "You did great in making him uncomfortable. Your presence will hopefully make life here in the bunker unbearably tense for him. If you can 'adapt' any of your more violent stories to this day and age, that would be perfect. You might not consider yourself a violent person, but you did spend most of your life around them, and fight in what sounds like a minor war for a few years. I'm sure you have some very unsettling stories, at least for someone like Morian."

Hiccup frowned. "That might not be a good idea. I couldn't get too elaborate or specific, because of just how much I would have to change. Besides, he doesn't know my past. People fear the unknown. I might just drop a few hints, now and then."

Iris nodded. That was a fair point, especially considering Morian was capable of fact checking any specific lies Hiccup might have to come up with that involved this day and age. She wished she could completely cut Morian off from the outside world, but that wasn't an option. However, she could see exactly what he did, given she had administrative access to all computers in the bunker, and Morian would have to use one to communicate with anything outside of the bunker.

Abdul spoke next, as he rose from his table. "We do need to get rid of him quickly. We can't really start anything until Toothless is fully recovered, but if Morian is still here at that point, we're stuck. We won't be able to proceed until he leaves. And we don't want to waste time."

Hiccup agreed with that. "So, I need to get Morian out of here while Toothless recovers. That'll be a few weeks, so I do have some time." He smiled. "Maybe Morian will be driven out by the smell of Toothless's fish next door." Actually... "By the way, Iris, what do we do about that once the nukes start falling? We can't exactly grow fish in here."

Iris smirked. She had already considered that. "Toothless will have to learn to eat what the rest of us will for protein." She walked over to the kitchen and held up a cylindrical grey-green bar of nondescript matter. "It looks disgusting, but it tastes fine, and we make it entirely out of plants grown here, along with a few choice chemicals. A few modifications to the ingredients should match what Toothless gets from fish, and we can make way more of this stuff than he could ever eat. The specific plants we use grow extremely fast, and we have quite a few fields of them."

Hiccup laughed. "Don't tell him about this. I'd rather not deal with that sad day any sooner than I have to." He left the cafeteria a few minutes later. The next few weeks were going to be tough. He would have to balance pressuring Morian, something he really didn't enjoy even if it was necessary, and spending time with Toothless as he recovered. He hoped everyone else could help him with that. A bored Night Fury is not good for the health or sanity of anyone around him. Especially one confined to a single wing of the bunker, in order to keep him away from Morian. Still, he thought it was possible to do both.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Author's Note:_** **Well, despite illness and a questionable mental state, here's the next chapter. Thank goodness my personal writing policies guarantee such petty things as illness and fatigue don't get in the way of far more important thing such as this.**

Morian was seriously considering transferring to another team. He knew it would be embarrassing and awkward, but he was almost to the point of not caring. The last two weeks had been hell. And the worst part was, no one seemed to even realize just what he was having to deal with.

First, there was the fish smell. No matter what he did, Morian couldn't get away from it. He didn't know why they were stocking fresh fish, but apparently, there was a steady rotation of the stuff being stored in the room next to his. He would complain, but it had been going on well before he arrived, and there really weren't any other rooms except in the same general area. The smell wouldn't go away, whether or not he moved rooms.

Then there was the fact that he almost felt trapped. The scientists were all polite, if distant, but they effectively limited him to his room, the cafeteria, and a few different labs. He was sure there was much more to the bunker, but he was subtly kept away from areas almost at random! They didn't directly forbid him to go anywhere, but there were always a few scientists standing in certain doorways whenever he was around.

But all of that might be bearable if it wasn't for Haddock. That man disturbed and scared Morian more than he would even admit to himself. From the metal leg to the fact that he was armed, to his strange accent and apparent guarded dislike of Morian, hidden under a pleasant personality. There was just something off about him, and Morian didn't like what he didn't understand. And he was always around.

Morian wasn't entirely sure if it was intentional, but Haddock was present far more often than he would have expected. The man was always in the cafeteria when Morian was, and he often hung around the same genetics lab Morian was forced to share with Abdul. Abdul seemed far too pleased with Haddock's presence, and had actually started teaching Haddock how to use some of the specific equipment, he was around so often! On top of all of that, there were the strange inventions.

Morian shuddered. He hadn't considered Haddock to be insane, but that was before Haddock showed him a rudimentary flight suit that built out of a strange leather outfit. That was pure insanity. Morian knew some people used such wingsuits for thrill-seeking, but those were made of strong modern-day materials. This thing was literally made of sheets of leather, and Haddock said he had used it multiple times!

And then there was the lingering mystery surrounding the bunker's twenty-second resident. Morian had still not laid eyes on Fury, who was apparently still recovering from his operation. He guessed that the only reason Haddock wasn't around one hundred percent of the time was because his friend Fury was bed-ridden. Not that Morian was at all eager to meet someone who by all reports was Haddock's best friend. Fury was probably just as strange. But he hated the unknown, and Fury embodied that quality.

One thing kept Morian here, and that was laziness. He was rapidly approaching the point where his discomfort would overpower that particular quality. So, he made his way to the nearest unused computer terminal and opened the databases of the secret project teams. He would look through them and decide which one he wanted to transfer to. This was too much to deal with.

He paused for a moment. Haddock wasn't around. Really, no one was around at the moment. That was slightly unusual, if highly welcome. He turned back to his monitor.

Morian quickly ruled out teams eight, one, two, three, and five. They were all actively developing things at the moment, and he wanted the protection of a bunker without the associated work. He skimmed over to team ten. They, by all appearances, were pretty much done with the development stage and were moving into testing and implementation. Maybe he could find a good reason to go there. He looked through their file a bit more, searching for something a geneticist could be useful advising on.

However, he found something odd as he moved deeper into team ten's files. He had top security clearance given directly by the President. But this folder wasn't opening. He was moderately bad at computer science, but he knew enough to recognize a custom security system around this folder. It must have been built by team ten itself.

Morian's snooping instincts kicked in. They had been scared into dormancy by Haddock, but he wasn't here right now. Morian quickly checked to see if anyone was around. He was still alone. He began looking into ways around the makeshift security. Whoever had designed it had clearly intended no one open it from outside of team ten's local server. He wasn't sure if there was a way around that. But he did have one thing he could try.

Morian logged off of the terminal and returned to his room. He had taken the liberty of acquiring a few 'less legal' programs before coming here. The idea of snooping had been very alluring before the President had just straight up given him clearance off the bat. So these programs in his personal flash drive were going unused, collecting digital dust. But now he had a use for one of them.

He stuffed the flash drive in his pocket and made his way to the cafeteria for lunch. Once he had a few minutes at another computer, he'd crack into those files. The program he had should be capable of that. Until then, he could stand staying here. Morian was on the prowl, digitally speaking. He was entirely incapable of being stealthy physically.

* * *

Hiccup laughed. He was spending some time with Toothless, Iris, and Skyler. All three of the humans were wearing earpieces, and Toothless and Skyler had spent many hours improving the translator's accuracy. That had been one of the things helping Toothless keep from being bored. They were testing the latest edition of the translating software.

"So, what should we talk about?" Iris was simply enjoying being in the only place in the bunker where she didn't have to keep up appearances in case Morian turned up.

"Well, we need a subject of conversation that tests Toothless's vocabulary, to indicate any potential holes in the translating software." Skyler was all business at the moment.

"How about you talk about people? I'll give you a person from our past, and Toothless can describe them as accurately as possible." Hiccup had mostly come to terms with the loss of his past life, and as long as he was picking the people, he didn't mind the memories.

"Good idea. I'll be sure to be honest and accurate." Toothless was staring absently at his bandaged tail. It had been hard to keep him from removing the bandages before it was time. He still hadn't seen his new tailfin attached to the rest of him, and the fact that he could vaguely feel it was almost a tease, given he couldn't move it.

Hiccup smiled. "Alright, I'll start with an easy one. Gobber."

Toothless snorted. "A large Viking with blond hair, what I think is called a mustache, a fake tooth, a hook arm and a peg leg. Bad attitude, heavy accent, cheats at games. Village blacksmith, surprisingly smart given his appearance. Entertaining to watch, smells terrible."

Hiccup nodded. "I think the translator might have some trouble with the words 'accent' and 'mustache'." He had heard both of them, but they had been preceded by the short pause the computer used to indicate a guess in translation. Those words needed clarification, though both had been guessed correctly this time.

Skyler laughed. "That makes sense. They weren't really on our high priority list of words to add manually." She noted those words on her tablet. "Do someone else."

Hiccup frowned. "Hmm... how about Mildew?"

Iris laughed. "That can't be his actual name. No one names their kid after mold."

Toothless growled softly. "It fits him. Mildew was a disgusting old man with a limp, an unpleasant personality, and an unfortunate talent for swaying the simple-minded. He had three wives, all of whom died, and a pet sheep named Fungus. He eventually - us for the Outcasts."

Skyler stared at Hiccup. "Any idea what word the translator dropped?"

Hiccup nodded. "Probably 'betrayed'. Right, Toothless?"

"Yes."

Skyler noted that on her tablet. "That's one we really did miss. Not sure how."

Hiccup nodded. He really was interested in how Toothless saw this next person. "Viggo Grimborn."

Toothless was silent for a long moment. He seemed deep in thought. Eventually, he sighed. "That's hard. Viggo was smart, ruthless, dangerous, and creepily formal. He was the only person to ever match Hiccup in intelligence. He led the dragon hunters for years, and was responsible for countless deaths and atrocities." Toothless growled. "But, he did eventually change. He died protecting both of us. And the Skrill. He was a strange man. There really isn't any other way to describe him. Physically he changed just as much. Originally Viggo had a neatly trimmed beard and black hair. He always stood straight, and he had a confident aura around him. But I remember him better in his last moments. Half of his face had been horribly disfigured by lava, and one eye was pale and burned. He looked much more like a monster then. But he had less of that same confidence, and in his last moments, he seemed happier than I would have expected. Maybe because he knew he was making up for something he had done wrong, and not just fighting for greed."

Iris was quiet. Hiccup and Toothless had certainly led eventful lives. Eventually, she had a question. "How many enemies have you guys had?"

Toothless responded. "First was the Queen, the giant dragon behind the raids. Then Mildew and Alvin for a while, with Dagur thrown into the mix later. Dagur betrayed Alvin, and Alvin eventually joined us to defeat Dagur. Then Dagur broke out of jail, and in the process of finding him, we ran into the dragon hunters, led by Ryker Grimborn. Later we found out about Viggo, and Dagur joined us against him. Eventually, Ryker betrayed Viggo, and Viggo temporarily aided us in defeating Ryker, though he tried to double-cross us in the end. That ended in Ryker drowning, and Viggo falling into an active volcano. After that, a man named Krogan took over the hunters, and Viggo turned out to not be dead. We later found out a man we had known for years, Johann had been playing us all for fools, and was the one who employed Viggo. Krogan was working for him, but he had a different employer. Eventually, Viggo was betrayed by Johann and died defending us, arrows in his back. Johann was frozen alive, in a very similar fashion to how we were later. We don't know what happened to Krogan." Here Toothless paused, before continuing.

"Later, there was Drago Bludvist. A madman with an enslaved dragon army." Toothless abruptly cut off and curled his head under his bandaged tail.

Hiccup moved over to him. "You know that wasn't your fault."

Iris was slightly shocked. She had not been expecting such a long list of enemies, so many of which died or switched sides in the conflict. "Yikes. All of that in five years?"

Hiccup didn't respond. He was too busy trying to get Toothless to listen to him. He was speaking softly so that only Toothless could hear.

Skyler caught Iris's attention. She was watching them, and she seemed sad. She eventually spoke to Iris. "Toothless and I talked a lot to test this software. He eventually got around to telling me about some of the stuff in his past. I think I know what's bothering him now."

Iris wasn't sure why Skyler was telling her this. "What is it?"

Skyler sighed. "That isn't my story to tell. I don't even know why Toothless told me in the first place."

Iris knew the answer to that, at least. "He trusts you. Probably more than anyone but Hiccup."

Skyler looked like she was going to respond, but she was distracted by Toothless suddenly raising his head. Apparently, Hiccup had broken him out of his moping.

"I wasn't done. I think we can add one more name to the list. Morian." Toothless growled softly, then laughed. "The most incompetent enemy we've ever had. Even Mildew turned out to be capable of at least attacking an Outcast soldier. From what you've told me, Morian could be defeated by a single Terrible Terror with a bad attitude."

Hiccup smiled. "True, but he isn't dangerous physically. He's dangerous because he could destroy any chance of this whole project succeeding." Hiccup frowned at that. "Actually, he's the only enemy we've ever had that could stop us with a single discovery."

Toothless rumbled thoughtfully. "Wasn't Dagur in Morian's exact same position originally? Hanging around our home while we were hiding things, capable of bringing in an entire armada at will?"

Hiccup laughed. "Actually, yes. So we have dealt with this before."

Iris was intrigued. "How did that end?"

"We scared him off with a fake dragon raid. Although, I probably shouldn't have participated. He became obsessed with hunting Night Furies once he saw me." Toothless seemed slightly embarrassed.

Iris nodded. "We're basically doing the same thing here, but Hiccup is doing the scaring."

Toothless chuckled. "I never thought I'd see that day."

Hiccup playfully slapped him. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

They were interrupted by a broadcast into the room, via intercom. "Iris, you told me to alert you if Morian did anything suspicious." It sounded like Abdul. "He's been poking around team ten's files, and he found a sealed folder. I'm betting it has stuff on Toothless inside. I don't think he can get into it, but he might try later. Just letting you know." The intercom shut off.

Hiccup did not like hearing that. "What do we do if he sees something he shouldn't?"

Toothless had an answer to that. "Lock him up here. He wanted to stay, let him stay. In a cell."

Iris slowly started speaking. "We might have to do that. But hopefully, we can keep him from getting to the contents of that folder, whatever they are. Hiccup, I think you need to increase your shadowing of Morian. He was probably considering leaving when he started looking at the other teams' files. He must be on the edge."

Hiccup nodded. "But what's going to stop him from just continuing his search at another bunker? If he could get to them from here, I assume he could do the same elsewhere."

There was silence. No one knew how they would stop him in that case, especially if Morian transferred to team ten.

Skyler spoke up. "This is a mess."

Iris was thinking. They couldn't guarantee that Morian wouldn't break into the sealed folder eventually, and they had no way of driving him away from the projects entirely. Getting him to go to another team would have worked if it wasn't for that folder... "That's what we need to do. Get team ten to transfer all the stuff in that folder to some external hard drive, and delete it on the database. That way there's nothing for Morian to snoop through."

Skyler agreed with that. "How long will that take?"

"I just need to contact team ten and inform them of the situation. They won't want Morian snooping any more than we do. I'll do that now." She pulled out her tablet and began writing a secure email.

Hiccup stood and sighed. "And I'll make sure Morian doesn't get a second alone with a computer." He left the room.

* * *

Morian was struggling to keep his resolve. Shortly after he had entered the cafeteria, Haddock had shown up. That was five hours ago, and Haddock had stuck to him like glue the entire time. This was even worse than normal. The man was always there. Loitering in a corner, working at an adjacent terminal. He wouldn't leave.

Eventually, Morian resolved himself to continuing his snooping tomorrow. Haddock never showed up in the first few hours of the day.

Sure enough, Haddock wasn't there the next morning. Morian quickly logged into a terminal and maneuvered to the locked folder. But it was gone, like it had never existed. In its place was a single text file. Morian accessed it doubtfully, his jaw dropping in shock as he read.

'To Professor Morian. We dislike snoops. If you are considering transferring out of team nine, please cross us off of your list of potential transfer locations. We would recommend team eight, in the hopes that they send you to Mars as a test subject. -Team ten.'

Morian jumped as Haddock spoke up from behind him, where he had somehow appeared silently, despite a metal leg.

"What's that?" He sounded innocent enough, but his tone carried just a hint of amusement.

Morian coughed, and quickly closed the text file. "None of your business."

Haddock smiled. "You never know."

Morian quickly logged off and made his way to the cafeteria. He really didn't want to be alone with Haddock. Especially after that. How had they known he had even looked at the files?

Morian wasn't the most perceptive person, so he didn't even consider that his online activity might be monitored. He decided to confront Iris directly. He was fed up with this place, and he wanted a few answers before he left. But first, he was going to put in a transfer request to one of the vault projects. After that, he would find Iris and try to get some answers.

* * *

Iris was in the oxygen generation room with Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless was getting out some built up excitement. His tail bandages would be taken off tomorrow. Hiccup and Iris were just watching, as usual. This was a sight that always filled her with awe, even when the dragon had to be careful with a bandaged club of a tail.

Abdul ran into the doorway, panting with exertion. "Iris, Morian is coming. He doesn't seem like he's going to take no for an answer, whatever he wants. He shoved his way past the people blocking the entry into this wing. They messaged me, and I made it here before him because I was already in this wing. He'll be here any second."

Iris tried not to panic. Morian here in seconds, looking probably for her. Toothless directly behind her, in plain sight. Nowhere to hide him, and nowhere else to go in time.

Hiccup took charge. "Iris, we need to confront him in the hallway. Stop him from seeing in here. He won't try anything if I'm around."

Iris quickly nodded, and they stepped into the corridor. The oxygen generation room had only a sliding clear glass door, so they needed to keep Morian from getting past them, or he would see inside.

Abdul rushed inside the room, to tell Toothless what was happening. He had just closed the door when Morian shuffled into view, moving at his top speed, which wasn't very fast. He seemed perturbed, although whatever resolve he had visibly wavered at the sight of Hiccup apparently in conversation with Iris. But he wanted answers, so he pushed forward anyway. "Iris. I need to speak to you." He glanced at Hiccup. "Alone."

Iris smiled. "I'm sure whatever you need to say can be said on the presence of Mr. Haddock. What is it you need to speak to me about?"

Morian visibly steeled himself. "I want you to tell me what you and team ten are hiding. And don't try to tell me it's nothing, girl, because I saw a locked folder that even top security clearance couldn't get into, and the next time I get a chance to look, it's gone, and team ten is insulting me with a text document in its place!" He decided to play his trump card. "I have quite a bit of influence with the President, and you will answer me if you value your job." He was done playing nice.

Iris was considering Toothless's suggestion of locking Morian up. He clearly wasn't going to stop. She was about to speak, but Hiccup stepped forward first, eyes blazing in anger.

"You will not insult Iris. And your threats might carry more weight if you weren't caught snooping in the personal files of a team member."

Morian backed down. He knew Hiccup was armed, and he didn't know it took far more than what he had done to provoke Hiccup to that point. "Personal files?"

Iris had caught on to Hiccup's plans. "Those were the file of Mr. Fury, who is quite a private person. He left them with team ten when he came out here. He was working with them in an advisory capacity before that. So yes, personal files. History, past medical reports, that sort of thing." She wanted to elbow Hiccup, so he would stop smiling ever so slightly. They were both terrible liars, but this wasn't a lie. Just a very loose interpretation of the truth.

Morian huffed. "I'd have to hear that from Mr. Fury himself, wherever he is. I haven't ever even seen him! Recovering from medical issues notwithstanding." He didn't entirely believe either of them, and he had also wanted to make sure Mr. Fury was a real person, and not just some fake identity set up to hide something, like embezzling. He always enjoyed blackmailing embezzlers.

Iris wasn't sure how they were going to handle that. Luckily, Hiccup stepped up to the challenge.

"If you want to disturb a very weak man, recovering from a highly viral throat issue, be my guest. Although you would have to speak to him through a curtain while wearing a mask. And he isn't exactly capable of speech right now, so he is using a text-to-speech program. You can understand why he hasn't really left his room."

Morian considered that. It might be the truth, but... "Yes, I would. As soon as possible."

Iris sighed. "Fine. He's probably asleep right now, so we'll send for you as soon as he wakes up. I assume from your rudeness that you've probably already requested a transfer to another group?" There was a hint of menace to that question. She would be rid of Morian after this.

Morian nodded. "I have, and I have no doubt the President will approve it."

Iris sighed. "I pity whichever group ends up stuck with you."

Morian might have done something in response to that, but Hiccup was still right there, and he still looked angry. He settled for a retort of purely verbal means. "Strong words when your lunatic friend is guarding you, I see."

Hiccup laughed. "Sorry Morian, but I'm not crazy. I've dealt with the truly insane, and I know the difference. I'm just a little unstable and very different from anyone you'll ever meet."

Morian had nothing to say to that. He left them standing there and headed back to his room to pack. He was leaving as soon as he got a confirmation from team six. After he found out if Mr. Fury was even a real person. He still wasn't sure about that.

* * *

Iris sighed in relief. "Well, just one more crazy stunt to pull off, and he'll be gone."

Hiccup laughed. "Then we can get back to our normal crazy plans." He and Iris reentered the oxygen room. "Did you guys hear?"

Toothless responded. Iris and Hiccup were able to hear him because they wore their earpieces all the time now. "I am personally affronted that he was trying to look at my files. I'll have to let him know." There was definitely sarcasm in those robotic translated words.

Iris blinked. "I was assuming it'd be too risky to have you actually behind the curtain, literally and figuratively speaking. One of us could do it, and just type in what we want to say."

Hiccup intervened. "Actually, he's right. Either way, we need Morian to believe it. And he'll be way more likely to if he sees every single human member of the bunker is outside the room when he goes in. That way he doesn't think it's us."

Abdul squinted thoughtfully. "But what if he decides to look behind the curtain anyway?"

"He's a coward. And he thinks I have a highly infective virus. You'll all be wearing face masks, right? I think he's way too much of a coward to risk it." Toothless rumbled thoughtfully. "And if he does, we can just lock him up. No harm done, at least for us."

Iris laughed. "Morian might disagree if it comes to that. But you are all right. Let's go get ready. Who knows how long Morian will wait before he gets suspicious."

With that, the group left the oxygen generation room, to prepare for Morian and Toothless's first and hopefully only conversation.

 ** _Author's Note:_** **Just as a matter of public record, I agree with Toothless and toothlessgolfer about protein bars.**


	9. Chapter 9

Morian was almost nervous. He had eaten one last meal in the cafeteria and had seen every single scientist save for the elusive Mr. Fury in there. All twenty-one of them, discounting himself. That made him even more unsure whether or not Fury was a real person. Haddock and Iris approached his table.

Haddock spoke. "Fury is awake, but he's always tired. So you should make it quick." He sounded annoyed. He and Iris led Morian to one of the far living quarters.

Iris produced three masks and handed one to Morian and Haddock. "You had better put this on now. Even with these, the virus is still dangerous in close range. That's why the curtain is up. Mr. Fury has almost beaten it, but he can still transmit it by air. The curtain is to stop him from breathing on you. If you value your vocal cords and lungs, don't mess with it."

Morian nodded. He certainly didn't want to risk it... if it was real. He secured the face mask. "So, he's awake?"

Haddock nodded. "And expecting you. He still can't do much more than grunt and moan, so he'll be communicating via text-to-speech. Don't bother him for too long. For your health as well as his."

Morian noted that they both intended to stay outside. He knew that this was the only way into or out of the room. Therefore, it definitely was someone he'd never met in there. He carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Haddock quickly closed the door from the outside, making him flinch. He surveyed the room.

The curtain covered a surprisingly large amount of the room... and there was definitely someone behind it, though he couldn't even make out a general shape. The curtain moved as something brushed against it. He cleared his throat. "You would be Mr. Fury?" He wondered for the hundredth time who would have a last name like that.

"Yes. And you would be the snoop."

Morian had heard a surprisingly loud grunt at that, right before the computer on the other side voiced what Fury had presumably typed. "I resent that." Even though it was entirely true.

There was another grunt. "And I resent you prying into my business. Why are you here?"

Morian wanted to get this conversation over with. "I wanted to make sure you actually existed."

There was something akin to a low growl. "Take it from me, I do indeed exist. And I'm glad I'll never have to see your face."

Morian was actually insulted by that. "And I could say the same to you. I hope you enjoy this doomed project. If you ever recover enough to be within ten feet of anyone without infecting them." Then Morian realized that something did not make sense. "What kind of virus is so damaging it takes surgery to correct it?" That was strange, now that he thought about it. Especially in such a sterile environment as a bunker.

"Take off the mask and find out first-hand."

That had certainly been spiteful. But now Morian was thinking about it, and he was abruptly certain that there was no virus. "Or maybe I'll risk pulling back that curtain. Just to make sure you are who you say you are." He supposed that one of the other scientists could have gotten here from the cafeteria while he was walking with Iris and Haddock. There might be other corridors he didn't know about.

There was something that sounded vaguely like a laugh. "That would be entertaining for me. You would probably faint. Believe me, you'd regret that. Even if you didn't catch the virus."

Morian didn't hear the implied menace in those words, because they were spoken by a neutral computer voice. His cowardly and suspicious sides were fighting for control now. He balanced in between for a moment. Then he decided.

"I doubt that." He pulled the curtain aside abruptly.

Toothless smirked at the short, fat, and utterly terrified man wearing a white face-mask. He chuffed, and the tablet translated. "Told you." Then he opened his mouth and unsheathed his teeth.

Morian fainted.

Toothless closed his mouth. He carefully stepped over the unconscious man and pushed open the door. Hiccup and Iris stared at him. He growled, and the tablet in the room behind him translated, even as the earpieces did. "He got curious and decided to pull the curtain back. I did warn him it was a bad idea."

Iris sighed and took off the face mask. "Well, we tried."

Hiccup scowled at the unconscious man. He addressed the unhearing professor. "You couldn't have just let it alone. You had to check." He looked at Iris. "Does this place even have anywhere to keep prisoners?"

Iris nodded. "One cell, actually. In the East wing, close to the four-way intersection. Built just in case. There's no way he can get out on his own."

Hiccup tried to lift Morian's unconscious bulk. He couldn't even get the shoulders up. "A little help here?"

"I'll help you drag him, but we're not putting him on my back to carry." Toothless shook his head and growled.

Hiccup smiled. "Wouldn't think of it." He stared at Morain for a second. "Just don't pull too hard. I think he might notice a missing arm or leg."

They all laughed. This wasn't the greatest outcome, but they had tried.

Iris left to go cancel Morian's transfer request. He wasn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future. At least he'd be getting exactly what he wanted. No work, and a safe bunker to wait out the impending nuclear war.

* * *

Morian regained consciousness inside a moderately small room he had never seen before. It had a bed and a toilet in the far corner. That was odd. If it wasn't for the toilet, he thought groggily, he would have considered this a better room than where he had been sleeping in the bunker. Not like it mattered, he was leaving anyway...

With that, Morian remembered why he had been unconscious. He jolted up and quickly made sure he was alone. He wasn't at all sure what it was he had seen before he passed out. Upon closer inspection of the room, he noticed that the door had a window set into the top and a slot in the bottom. There was no doorknob. That was about when he realized he wasn't leaving.

About an hour later, someone stood in front of the door. The window slid open, and Haddock looked in at Morian.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone. I hope you enjoy this room more than your last one. Because we can't let you leave now, no matter how much we'd like to." He turned and looked off to the side. Then he turned back. "But, since you won't be going anywhere, Mr. Fury figured you two could have a more personal discussion." Haddock smiled. Then he left.

A massive, black, reptilian head with large green eyes loomed in front of the window.

Morian scrambled backward. He wanted to scream, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't help. He settled for squeaking in terror.

"Give it a rest, I know I don't look that scary. Especially when my head is all you can see, and we're separated by a metal door." The voice was the same robotic translation as before.

Morian didn't respond. He couldn't comprehend that this... thing... was the one talking.

Toothless waited a few minutes. "I'm not leaving until you properly acknowledge my existence with more than a squeaking. You were the one who wanted to make sure I was real." Even in a toneless robotic voice, that carried noticeable irony.

Morian eventually managed to squeak out a few words. "Talking... monster."

Toothless sighed. "Close enough. You really are stupid. Have fun in there." He turned to leave, but he called out a parting shot. "I hope you enjoyed the smell of fish. I eat a lot of them!"

That left Morian spluttering. He still didn't understand any of this, but that last comment had at least made sense. It had clearly been a taunt. He was really regretting ever coming here. But, he thought bitterly, this was entirely Teller's fault. At that, a new question arose in Morian's mind. How much did Teller know?

* * *

Hiccup laughed. "He really didn't say anything other than that?"

Toothless was seated in the middle of the cafeteria, and still talking through the tablet translator, for the benefit of the entire team, who were all in the room. They were all enjoying the end of secrecy and dealing with Morian.

Toothless purred smugly. "Nope. And even that took a few minutes."

Abdul slumped in his chair. "Well, now we've got a prisoner we can't let go. How long do we need to hold him?"

Iris knew the answer to that. "Until we've turned everyone who's willing to into Night Furies. Once we're done, there's nothing he can do, and by then there might be no one to report to."

Hiccup laughed. "Well, he's safe at least. I hope he realizes he did get what he wanted. That reminds me, what will the people who aren't willing to change do once we leave?"

Someone spoke up from the back. "Wish you all good luck, and maybe find somewhere uncontaminated to live outside. Worst case, we just stay here. Basically, what everyone with a bunker will do."

Toothless rumbled. "I can't wait to get this thing off of my tail." He nosed plaintively at the bandages. "Do I really have to wait until tomorrow?"

The head doctor nodded. "Yes. And just so you know, the muscles of both fins are going to be atrophied from lack of use. You'll need to strengthen them before you even try to fly."

Toothless whined. "I figured as much. Still." He slowly waved the bandaged mass that was the end of his tail for emphasis. "It itches!"

Everyone laughed. Hiccup spoke for them all. "Well, it's just the rest of today. And we want to see it too." He personally couldn't wait to see Toothless fly freely for the first time, both tailfins truly intact.

Iris clapped her hands. "Right. Once Toothless can properly fly, we'll start scanning him and mapping how his brain receives information. Is there anything we can get done in the meantime? If you have anything like that, start tomorrow after Toothless gets his bandages off. For today, we relax."

There was a general cheer at that. The group passed the rest of the day idly, many listening to stories from the two oldest people on the planet.

* * *

Everyone had gathered in the cafeteria again the next morning. Toothless was there and was fidgeting excitedly. He almost jumped when the doctor walked in carrying a pair of scissors.

The doctor smiled at him and Hiccup, who was standing at his side. "Stay still. It would really stink to accidentally cut you while I'm getting those off."

Toothless abruptly froze at those words. The only things that moved were his eyes, which followed the doctor as she moved his tail to the top of a nearby table.

The doctor slowly and methodically removed the bandages. She stood in between Toothless and his tail so that he wouldn't get excited and jerk it away before she was done. Finally, she put the scissors away. "It has healed perfectly. In a few days, we can remove the stitches." She moved aside.

Toothless slowly moved his tail so that the two twin fins on the end were in front of his face. He watched almost in awe as he moved them, and they responded together. It was a tiny bit sluggish because he hadn't used the muscles in weeks. He opened and closed the fins, again in unison. Then he abruptly moved them in every direction, a series of actions only Hiccup recognized as all of the positions necessary for flight. They responded weakly to some, and a bit slow in all movement, but they worked. They worked. Toothless was whole again, for the first time in five years, at least from his perspective. The fact that he could feel his fin drove that home. No matter how good a prosthetic was, nothing had ever replaced that feeling. This new fin was truly part of him.

After a moment, the entire room broke into applause. Most of it was directed to the doctors and geneticists who had grown and attached the fin. But some of it was general, and it was all in celebration of the same event.

Toothless abruptly noticed that while Hiccup was smiling, he didn't seem happy. He nudged Hiccup, indicating the earpiece, and waited until Hiccup put it in. Then he spoke, something he loved being able to do directly now. "Why aren't you happy?"

Hiccup shrugged. "It's great, but this applause and everything isn't for me. It's for everyone else. They fixed your tail. I just broke it."

Toothless immediately slapped Hiccup gently, specifically with the new tailfin. "This is just as much your doing as theirs. I wouldn't have been here to get a new tail if you killed me in the woods. Shooting me down was luck, whether good or bad. That isn't the moment you should consider, it should be that moment after when you found me. When you did the right thing, even if it probably should have gotten you killed. That was the part you played that eventually led to this. They are applauding you for that." He purred. "Besides, I want you to help me get my fin muscles back into shape. Skyler and the doctors can help too, but you need to be there."

Hiccup laughed. "Of course." He turned towards the doctor. "How should he rebuild those muscles?"

The doctor smiled. "I have a few exercises in mind. Do you want me to show you and Toothless what they are?"

Toothless nodded. "Yes, please show us. I plan on being flight-ready as soon as possible."

* * *

It had ended up taking another week. A week of Toothless almost constantly working to strengthen both tailfins. Hiccup was able to help, though only by reminding and encouraging Toothless to keep going. A few days after the stitches had been removed, the doctor examined Toothless's tail and felt at the muscles.

She eventually smiled. "I am by no means an expert, but both sides of your tail seem as strong as your single fin was before the operation. I think it's safe to test them." She waved a finger at Toothless. "No fancy flying yet, and try to go at least a little slower than normal."

Skyler and Iris were also in the room with Hiccup and Toothless. Skyler raised an eyebrow at Toothless when he nodded in agreement. "Really? You think you can hold yourself back?"

Iris, on the other hand, had a more legitimate concern. "I guess I should tell you about the area directly outside the bunker."

At that Toothless snapped to attention.

Iris continued. "We're in Alaska, in the middle of the wilderness. But there is a small town about sixty miles from here. So don't fly too far away, and make sure you can find your way back. This spot was picked in part because of how out of the way it is, so there shouldn't be any planes flying overhead." She smiled. "Well, follow me!"

Toothless, Hiccup, Skyler, and Iris made their way to the elevator at the end of the East wing. It was the size of the entire floor of the bunker's land-level structure, so Toothless fit with room to spare. They all squinted at the weak sunlight when the door opened. Except for Skyler, none of them had been outside in months.

Toothless took in the landscape. It was a flat, cold plain devoid of trees for a few hundred yards, bordering a tangled evergreen forest. There were a few mountains in the distance, and he was pretty sure he heard a stream somewhere nearby. It was similar to Berk only in the climate and some of the vegetation. Where Berk had been a rocky island in the sea, this place was a plain with no sea in sight. He crouched and prepared to take off. Then he stopped and turned to stare at Hiccup. "Well? I'm waiting."

Hiccup's mouth dropped open. "Really? You don't want to fly on your own?" He had been secretly hoping for this, though he never mentioned it to anyone.

Toothless chuffed. "No. Nothing is going to change now that I have both fins. We still fly together. Besides, we won't have this chance forever. Someday soon you'll be flying alongside me." He was eagerly awaiting that day too.

Hiccup laughed. "Well, who am I to argue?" He hopped on and situated himself. "Remember to go a bit slow. For your sake as well as mine. I don't have a saddle, and you haven't flown in a thousand years."

In way of answer, Toothless took off. He did go a bit slower, and he was careful not to knock Hiccup off, but he felt so much better now that he was finally in the air again. And under entirely his own power, too! He and Hiccup simply enjoyed the feeling for a while.

Hiccup smiled, not bothering to hold back a few tears of joy. "How is it?"

He was answered by a happy chortle, Toothless looking back with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. No words were needed.

After a while, Hiccup looked down. Skyler and Iris were still watching. "Hey, bud. Think those two would like a ride?"

Toothless barked happily. The earpiece didn't work up here, so far from the controlling tablet. Not that either of them minded. They could communicate fine without that.

Hiccup laughed. "Bring us in low. I'm going to land myself once we're close enough." He wanted to stretch his own wings, fake and leather though they might be right now. There was a reason he had put on his flight suit before they came outside.

Toothless brought them down to about twenty feet off of the ground, and Hiccup abruptly jumped off of his back. Hiccup spread his leather wings and used the momentum to glide quickly down to the ground, where he abruptly flung up his wings and let the wind stop him in midair. It worked perfectly on the first try. He dropped straight down the last few yards and landed on his feet.

Toothless landed a few feet away, watching Hiccup closely. Hiccup was pretty sure Toothless had been following him as he glided, ready to intervene if need be. Still, it must have looked impressive.

Hiccup turned, taking in the awed looks on Iris and Skyler's faces. "And Morian didn't believe these things worked."

Skyler laughed. "You should make him a pair and have him try it out himself." She wasn't being serious, but only because none of them thought Morian could ever be coaxed onto Toothless for the flight up.

Iris smiled weakly. "Maybe next time warn us when you plan on jumping off while twenty feet up." She had been extremely worried for a few seconds.

Hiccup shrugged. "Sorry for scaring you. If it helps any, I've only crashed with my wingsuit... actually, that might have been my first ever successful landing." He laughed weakly. "Not sure that helps."

Toothless decided to change the subject. Now that he was in the range of Skyler's tablet, he could be heard again. "So, which of you wants to go first?"

Skyler immediately jumped forward. "Definitely me." As soon as Toothless nodded, she jumped on his back. "How do I hold on?"

Hiccup spoke up. "Very carefully. Probably put your hands around his neck, I guess. He really can't go very fast or turn too quickly if you don't have a saddle anyway."

Skyler adjusted herself, and Toothless waited patiently. "I think I'm ready."

Toothless took off much more gently than he had done with Hiccup.

Hiccup walked over to stand by Iris as they watched Toothless and Skyler circle gently far overhead. "Looking forward to your turn?"

"Yes. But what if he drops one of us?"

Hiccup laughed. "That might have been an issue back when he had the prosthetic tail. But now he can just catch you. So it really is safe." They watched in silence for a few minutes.

Then Iris gasped. Toothless and Skyler were far overhead, and Skyler had just jumped off. And she definitely had no flight suit.

Hiccup wasn't that worried because he recognized this. It used to be quite a difficult trick when he and Toothless intentionally free-fell because neither of them could pull out without first reconnecting.

Now, Toothless was entirely in control. He and Skyler fell freely, and after a few seconds, he grabbed Skyler with his front paws. They pulled out of the dive, and Toothless glided back to Iris and Hiccup, still carrying Skyler by the shoulders with his paws. She was laughing as he gently set her down. He hovered just above her for a few seconds after dropping her off and then landed himself

Hiccup laughed at Toothless. "I guess that move is a bit flight-ending when the human component can't grab back on."

Toothless shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't think about that beforehand. Skyler wanted to free-fall, and I knew I could catch her." He chuckled as he nudged Skyler. "Quite brave for your first time in the air."

Skyler smiled cheekily. "I actually went sky-diving once. But flying is infinitely better." She addressed Iris. "And I wasn't planning on that either."

Iris smiled. "Well, don't expect me to try anything like that." She walked over to Toothless, who was already prepared to give this next flight. They took off.

Skyler watched them carefully. She spoke absentmindedly, never taking her eyes off of Toothless and Iris. "That is something I'll never get tired of."

Hiccup remembered his first flight. "My first flight lasted about ten seconds. I had just attached the first-ever prosthetic Night Fury tailfin to Toothless's tail, and he took off with me on his tail. He almost crashed twice, and the second he realized I was on his tail he threw me into a lake. Of course, I kept trying anyway. Our first real flight also almost got us both killed. But I definitely agree. That never gets old."

They stood in silence. A few minutes later Toothless returned, carefully bringing Iris back to earth. She was smiling broadly.

"That is amazing. Hiccup, I envy you. I also envy the fact that you had a saddle." She turned to Toothless, who was looking at her inquisitively. "Would you mind if Hiccup made a new one?"

Toothless purred. "Feel free. That makes it a lot easier on me and means I can fly very fast and do things like spins and rolls.. Riding a Night Fury without a saddle isn't very fun.""

Hiccup laughed. "You just want to take them on a real first flight. Like with Astrid." His face fell slightly, but Iris's advice had helped him immensely. He remembered Astrid fondly, but he had accepted that she had probably lived a long and happy life by Viking standards. His friends had defied the odds before, so it was possible. He chose to believe they had done it one more time.

Toothless laughed, shoving Hiccup. "She had just knocked the wind out of you with the handle of her axe."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "And you spun her like a top until she apologized."

Toothless snorted. "Hey, you were controlling half of the tail, and I didn't see you fighting what I wanted to do. Besides, that was in retribution. I wouldn't do that to Iris or Skyler."

Skyler wasn't phased by that at all. "Once you have a saddle, count me in for the crazy stuff."

Everyone else laughed.

Toothless nodded. "Just remember when that time comes, you asked for it."

Skyler smirked. She looked at Toothless and started walking back to the bunker. As she went, she called to Iris. "Toothless probably isn't even near done flying for today. I'm going to get a few heavy coats for us and come back."

Iris laughed. "Well, go on. We're good here."

Toothless met Hiccup's eyes. "Once we have a saddle we can do more."

Hiccup smiled. "Go on. I know you need to stretch your wings, and you can't do that with me barely hanging on."

Toothless took off once more and began moving faster now that he had no passengers to consider.

Hiccup sat on the ground, and for the first time ever he watched his best friend fly completely freely and naturally. He considered saddle designs, but he didn't think too hard about it. There wasn't much point in improving the current design when they wouldn't need it for very long. Now was when things started picking up again. Toothless was ready to be analyzed, both in body and mind. That was the last thing the group had been waiting for. He would get some help in making a more modern saddle, but he personally might not need it soon.

 ** _Author's Note:_** **I have been informed that Viggo is spelled with two Gs instead of one. I did know that at one point, but intentionally chose to spell it with one in my username, along with adding an extra E at the end of Grimborn. Blame that for my mistake there. I went back and fixed it.**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note:**_ **A momentous occasion, this chapter. Also, for anyone who finds this a little too happy and light, I may or may not have something else out that fits the time of year a bit better, called** ** _Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities._**

For something they had been waiting to do for more than a month, the process of scanning Toothless physically was actually very simple. He just had to stand still in the middle of a specially prepared room and not move as a harmless grid of colored lasers moved over him. It only took about five minutes. That was one part. After that, they used DNA samples to determine exactly how the body of a Night Fury was designed. That took several days for the computer to process, even with the aid of the information scanned.

Meanwhile, Toothless was otherwise engaged. A specially designed and reconfigured MRI machine had been built to monitor Toothless's brain activity. That information was vital in determining exactly how to connect a human brain to the sensory inputs of a foreign body. Toothless found this part a bit boring, despite the process involving various types of stimulus, such as sounds, smells, and brain teasers. It took several hours, and by the end of it he was itching to go flying and burn some excess energy.

Meanwhile, Hiccup worked with one of the engineers, Sammael, to perfect a saddle made using modern-day material. They eventually decided to make it out of mostly black carbon-fiber mesh. Stronger, non-flammable, extremely thin and light, and almost invisible on Toothless's back. As an added bonus, it was much more streamlined and basically untearable. Toothless loved it, and they kept the original stored in the aboveground room of the bunker's entrance. But Hiccup didn't stop at just one. He ended up making about a dozen extras and storing them in one of the bunker's storage rooms.

Hiccup knew why he had done that, but he didn't tell anyone else about it. He figured the humans that would be changing into Night Furies probably wouldn't like the idea at first. But he wanted them to be around if they ended up needing extra saddles.

The day the first Night Fury body would be complete was rapidly approaching. The information they needed was all together, both from Toothless's body and mind. The next part, which was completed by Abdul and the other geneticists, was determining which pieces of Toothless's DNA controlled the variables that should differ for every individual Night Fury. They eventually created something of a DNA randomizer program for the computer, in which the computer could test millions of unique changes to Toothless's DNA and create new strands of Night Fury DNA that were still similar in that they were the same species, but different individuals. Basically, it could create unique Night Furies that weren't genetically related to Toothless. This part was essential in creating the parents of a new species, to ensure genetic diversity from the start. Nature would handle subsequent generations automatically, but this part had to be done by computer. That took about a week to perfect. Abdul called everyone in once they were done, and they all crowded into the genetics lab.

"Alright, is everyone here?" Abdul knew everyone needed to be here. He heard a scattered round of confirmations, and he saw Toothless poking his head through the door. "Good. We've completed the last piece of the puzzle, the genetic randomizer.." He paused. "So now we come to it. The randomizer needs to know what gender the volunteer will be, and so now we need to know who that will be."

Iris stepped up. "You all know the risks of being the first. We've spent months making sure everything will go right, but the first real test is where things might go wrong. Do we have any volunteers?"

Skyler immediately moved forward. "I volunteer." There was a ripple of surprise from the group. Hiccup, Toothless, and Iris were not surprised. But they were worried for her.

Iris had to be sure. "You're certain?"

Skyler moved through the group to stand by Abdul and the computer. "Yes. I volunteer to be the first human to ever transfer their consciousness to an entirely new body." She smiled. "And I understand the risks associated with that. It's worth it." She made eye contact with Toothless. "Definitely worth it."

Abdul cleared his throat. "Okay." He projected the screen of the computer to the large wall monitor. "And now, for dramatic effect..."

Everyone looked at the screen. While they were testing the actual code, one of the other scientists had designed a simulation program to display roughly the changes being made to the original DNA, and the resulting changes to an orthographic model of Toothless. The result was a split-screen. The left side had an image of the basic shape of a strand of DNA, a double helix. It was entirely green. On the right side, there was a slowly rotating model of Toothless, in fairly good detail.

"This is the original DNA, also known as Toothless. When I start the program, the computer will start modifying it, changing so much that the resulting DNA isn't even biologically related to Toothless, save for being the same species. I have also specified the gender for the final result as female now, obviously." He nodded to Skyler. "The program on the screen will show graphically what the computer does when I press the button, and the resulting changes to the Night Fury the DNA will create."

Toothless was staring at the spinning model of himself. He seemed mesmerized.

Hiccup and Iris were watching Skyler. She seemed as mesmerized as Toothless was, and for good reason. She was about to see what she might look like in the near future.

After a moment, Abdul hit a button on the computer keyboard. The computer was liquid-cooled, so there was no loud whirring of fans. The only visible change was occurring on the large monitor. As they watched, the green strand of DNA began to splinter, and pieces changed color, to blue. This was a visual representation of the much less entertaining process of modifying thousands of tiny pieces of the actual DNA structure. On the other side, the slowly rotating model of Toothless went through gradual changes, as the DNA that was describing it was modified. Some changes were subtle, such as a slight elongation of the tailfins, and the minor narrowing of the base-fins that sat at the base of where the tail met the body. Others were much more obvious, such as the moment the eye color changed, from acid green to something of a light sky blue. The model's proportions changed slightly, and it became a bit smaller, though not enough to be noticeable if the change hadn't occurred in front of their eyes.

Everyone in the room was entirely absorbed in the gradual changes displayed so well by the visualization software. In reality, the software was lagging behind the much more efficient computer, so Abdul had to wait about half a minute after the computer completed its modifications for the visualizer to catch up. Finally, the DNA strand was entirely blue, and the rotating Night Fury on the other side of the screen had stopped changing.

"Everyone, meet the first non-Toothless Night Fury DNA strand. Skyler." Abdul checked the data on the actual DNA. "And the color of the eyes was a complete coincidence."

Skyler laughed. "Sky blue. Quite an impressive coincidence at that." She seemed entirely satisfied with the results. "No need to re-roll the dice, I think that will do just fine."

Abdul nodded. "I'll send it to the big vat." He spent a minute at the keyboard. "There." The group flocked over to one of the three massive versions of the vat that had grown Toothless's tailfin. The one on the far left was turned on, and humming. They all looked into the massive tank of the green liquid, which was big enough to hold a large truck easily, even though they knew there would be nothing to see for a few days at least.

Iris checked the vat's monitor. "Only sixteen days."

Hiccup was very surprised. "But didn't just the tailfin take eleven? I thought an entire body would take months at that rate."

Abdul chuckled. "The vat grows the entire thing at the same time, at an exponential rate. So size doesn't actually matter, just complexity. The extra five days are for the organs, mainly."

Skyler laughed, a sound full of joy. "Well, move along. Nothing to see here. And I don't want to catch you staring at me in here. So invite me to stare with you." She was joking and seemed to almost be bursting with anticipation, despite the possibility of unforeseen dangers in the actual transfer process drawing near.

Abdul had one final word on that subject. "Just a word of warning, the body is going to look very disturbing by about the halfway point. Skin and scales are some of the last things to develop when the vat makes things." He shrugged. "So if you want to look, bring your own bucket for vomit."

Someone laughed.

"I'm serious. Even if you don't think you'll need one, bring one anyway. Throwing up on the vat is not okay."

After that, the scientists dispersed. The last few weeks of work had involved every member of the team, but now all that could be done involved genetics. So most of them had sixteen days of absolutely nothing to do. Not that they minded. Iris had authorized trips to the nearest town, though only three at a time to avoid suspicion. The town knew there was a government project in the vicinity, but that was about all they knew. It was a small town, but it did have a pub and bowling alley, both of which were going to receive a distinct increase in patronage in the next sixteen days, though the bowling alley much more so than the pub. Very few of the scientists drank.

Meanwhile, those still in the bunker found ways to pass the time. They had internet, and movie nights became a regular event. Hiccup and Toothless, who had really only been educated on the scientific and historical aspects of the world were quite impressed with some of the movies. Although neither of them thought very highly of Jurassic Park, despite the inherent similarities, they did enjoy some of the more everyday action and fantasy movies. One old classic, Dragonheart, definitely felt very familiar, and ended up being one of their favorites. Most of the comedies went right over their heads, for obvious reasons.

It wasn't all fun though. The group still had to deal with Morian three times a day, and they eventually wound up drawing straws for who was stuck with that task on any given day. The only person who enjoyed bringing Morian his food was Toothless, who never got tired of Morian's entirely baffled expression when he was given food by a massive, 'monster', as he insisted on calling Toothless. On that front, he had been told absolutely nothing about why he wasn't allowed to leave and was still entirely unaware of the group's real goal.

Iris spent much of the sixteen days combing over the upcoming transfer process, searching methodically for any unnoticed detail or flaw. Hiccup gave what little help he could, which usually amounted to being there with her, and forcing her to take breaks every once in a while. Iris was determined that absolutely nothing was going to go wrong.

Toothless and Skyler spent some time finalizing the translation program. Other than that, Skyler spent quite a bit of time simply observing Toothless, trying to get an idea for how she would soon be moving and functioning. She especially loved to watch him fly, with or without a rider. He had taken her on a more daring flight once the saddle had been built, and she had loved it as much as she had predicted, despite throwing up the second she got out of the saddle afterward.

Hiccup and Toothless also spent quite a bit of time flying together. Toothless seemed to want to get in as much of that as possible while they could. Hiccup and Iris had already agreed that once the process was proven to work, Hiccup would be the next to go, because of his familiarity with the species. Of course, they wouldn't change anyone other than Skyler until nuclear war actually broke out.

On that note, things were not looking good. President Teller had recently survived an assassination attempt, and the assassin's country of origin was the subject of much heated debate. Teller himself was still advocating nuclear disarming as a mutual decision, but that seemed less likely than ever. North Korea, in particular, was getting more and more aggressive in the posturing that passed for 'negotiations' with the rest of the world. China, Russia, and North Korea's other allies were still backing them, and apparently that made them bold.

In the bunker, the scientists followed these developments closely but they didn't really care beyond the fleeting hope that Teller or someone else would pull off a miracle. No one, probably including Teller himself by now, believed it would happen. There was a little bit of panic in most countries, but people had been living under the shadow of nuclear war for decades now, and they were resigned that there really wasn't anything they could do. The inhabitants of the town closest to the bunker were apparently casual about the prospect of a nuclear war destroying massive portions of the human race. They thought they were probably safe because no one was going to waste a nuclear warhead on Alaska. The prospect of radioactive drift from hybrid SALT nuclear bombs was not something they were aware of. The scientists knew there was nothing that would be gained from telling them about that particular fact, so they remained unaware.

This disinterested attitude confused Hiccup, who wasn't used to people facing any sort of doom behaving passively. This group of people he was working with were at least doing something, even if it was preparing for the aftermath. He had studied the situation and had determined that the time to intervene and stop it entirely had come and gone about a decade ago. So he wasn't really that surprised Teller seemed to be the only world leader really trying to stop the looming catastrophe. The other world leaders seemed to be resigned to the inevitability of the event, and in a few cases looking forward to it.

During the sixteen days, Iris received one notification of interest. Apparently, President Teller had decided, as nuclear war was almost upon them, to call something of a conference between the leading scientists of the ten secret groups and himself. He requested that the leader and two team members of their choice join something of a video conference call, on a date that landed about a week after Skyler's big day. They, of course, could not refuse, though Iris worried that Teller might ask some awkward questions about Morian, or their group's progress.

All in all, the sixteen days in which Skyler's new body was grown did pass quickly for the most part. Abdul, in particular, took pleasure in tracking just how many team members threw up when they viewed the body between days seven and fourteen. He said that everyone who came during those days left with a full bucket.

On the evening of the fifteenth day, Iris, Hiccup, and Skyler finally took their turn in going into town. Toothless had wanted to tag along, but for obvious reasons he couldn't. Physically, at least. Iris set Hiccup up with a set of special sunglasses, which concealed a video camera and microphone. Combined with the rest of their communication equipment, this allowed Toothless to tag along in mind, if not body. They taught Hiccup how to bowl, and Skyler spent her last day as a human in the company of ordinary people, playing a game Night Furies probably couldn't play very well. They all enjoyed that night, even if it was a bit bittersweet for Skyler. For all of them, really.

* * *

It was slightly after noon, on the sixteenth day. Abdul and a few of the mechanically specialized scientists had quadruple-checked the setup, and everything was ready. The final assortment of machinery needed for this last procedure was actually quite varied. The medical staff had assembled a collection of drugs that would act to 'jump-start' Skyler's new form at the same instant that her brain was transferred over and connected inside the Fury's currently empty head. Right now, the body was just a floating set of inactive organs, bone, flesh, and various other bits like eyes, not dead but also not functioning. The 'jump-start' coupled with the insertion of a functioning brain would work together to activate everything. Also, right now the body didn't need to breathe. But when it started working, Skyler would probably need to breathe. So, they had been forced to transfer the dormant Fury body to another vat of the liquid, one with no top. This way Skyler could be quickly removed from the liquid once the transfer was accomplished.

On the human side of things, there were more machines. There was something of a massive computer, which inside it contained the necessary technology to perform the actual move.

Hiccup still didn't understand how that part actually worked. Apparently, it was the result of some work done by Stephen Hawking, discovered after he had passed away. It was way beyond Hiccup's comprehension, at least right now.

The reactor had been charging the massive energy storage unit the machine would drain while active for the last two weeks. That was also ready, and though the actual storage was not physically present, it was connected. Finally, there were two helmets, of very sophisticated design. One made for a human, and one for a Night Fury. These were in necessary in order to provide the transporting machine with the exact spatial coordinates of the start and end points of the transfer.

All of these things had been tested exhaustively separately, and the theory was sound, if in some cases incredibly complicated. But there was no way to test it all at once. This would be the first time. Each individual step worked, now they would hope they all worked together.

The scientists were all on high alert. Each one was stationed near the device that utilized their field of science. This wasn't necessary to actually operate the process, but they wanted to be ready in case of an emergency if something went wrong. The only ones actually needed to perform the procedure were a doctor and someone to press the button, along with the person being transferred. In this case, Abdul would be pressing the button, and Skyler was the one the procedure would affect.

Hiccup and Toothless were standing a distance away, so as to not get in the way. They were both immensely nervous and excited for Skyler.

Skyler herself was sitting in a chair, helmet securely fastened on her head. She looked nervous in the way a fire looked warm. Which is to say, very.

The doctor was only there to do one thing. Put Skyler to sleep, so that she would be unconscious when the transfer occurred. That probably wasn't necessary, but it would prevent any sudden jolt in perception. Skyler would go to sleep a human and wake up a dragon. If nothing unforeseen happened. Otherwise, she might wake up a human... or not wake up at all.

Skyler smiled at the doctor. "My final words as a human: Totally worth the risk."

The doctor laughed nervously. "I was going to ask you if you still wanted to do this, but I guess that's as good an answer as any." She held up a mask for Skyler to put on, which she did. "Count backward from ten."

Skyler was out by the time she hit six. Now there was only one thing left to do. Hit the button and hope.

Abdul's hand was trembling. He moved it over the enter key on the keyboard of the coordinating computer. He visibly steeled himself, prepared to press a button that would change the world forever. Or end a life.

He pressed the button.

And though everything was working as intended, there was no sign anything had happened, save for an electrical crackle from the makeshift half-vat and a slight dimming of the lights as the massive energy storage was instantly drained.

Except that Skyler had stopped breathing.

And the dragon in the vat, whose head had been tilted so that the nose was above the liquid...

...

Inhaled. Then exhaled, slowly but regularly. They had just doubled the Night Fury population of Earth. Now they needed to hope it had worked as well as intended.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **I received quite an…** _ **interesting**_ **request from a guest reviewer:**

 **Guest: "More love the story but gotta add Astrid and the rest of the crew"**

 **I'm not entirely sure you get the point, guest reviewer. They are irrevocably dead, and have been for hundreds of years. While it is in my power as the author to ignore that and bring them back anyway, that would certainly snap the suspension of disbelief like a brittle twig under Toothless's several-ton bulk. Also, what would they add to this plot? A key sub-plot here is Hiccup gradually moving on and accepting that they are gone. Bringing them all back, ignoring all the other implications of that, would invalidate much of the point.**

 **Besides, that is simply not the way this story is going. So I'll respectfully decline your oddly worded request/statement. However, I am contemplating writing a short story detailing the aftermath of Hiccup and Toothless being 'killed' (frozen) in the past. You will see the gang there, though it won't be a very happy situation.**


	11. Chapter 11

There was silence. Abdul had slumped into a chair the second Skyler's new form had started breathing. That had been about three minutes ago. No one had moved. They were all watching Skyler as if the second they stopped watching she might stop breathing. Toothless especially was staring as if he had seen a ghost. Which, in a way, he had. He was looking at a living Night Fury, something he had literally never seen before, save for reflections.

Hiccup was the first to break the silence. "When will she wake up?"

Iris jolted out of her stupor, as did almost everyone else.

One of the doctors answered. "She was put to sleep using a chemical, but that was her old body. There's no chemical keeping her new form asleep, so any minute now."

So they waited. No one left the room. This was the culmination of years of work, and the wellbeing of a friend. No one had anything to do that could possibly be more important than this. Although a few of them were wishing they had used the bathroom prior to this event.

A few minutes later, Skyler's light blue eyes fluttered open, slowly focusing on nothing in particular. She seemed to realize where she was and abruptly focused her gaze on Toothless. After a few moments, she smiled, a wide gummy grin.

Toothless barked in happiness.

Skyler's eyes widened further, seemingly in wonder. She tilted her head slightly, and her ears flicked towards him.

Hiccup abruptly realized that with her new ears, Skyler could hear what Toothless really sounded like when he spoke. He couldn't wait for that particular aspect of the switch himself.

The head doctor stepped forward. "Skyler. Can you hear and understand me?" They were beginning a series of tests, to make sure everything had worked properly.

Skyler nodded.

The doctor smiled. "And you can hear Toothless entirely, correct? Even if you don't understand what he's saying yet."

Skyler hesitated a second and managed a feeble purr.

"I take that as a yes. Would you mind getting out of there? We need to take a closer look at you."

Skyler slowly and laboriously climbed out of the half-vat and dropped to the floor, dripping the green liquid she had been submerged in. She seemed uncertain how to move anything at the moment, just barely managing not to fall flat on her face. Blue eyes stared at the doctor inquisitively.

Can you move your wings and tail?"

That took almost a full ten seconds for Skyler to figure out, but eventually, she managed to stretch her wings and manipulate her tail.

The doctor laughed. "Perfect. That was the riskiest part. We weren't entirely sure how that would work." She flipped a page. "Good. Now, open your mouth, and try to extend and retract your teeth."

Hiccup watched in growing relief as the doctor and Skyler went through all of the basic points of control. Muscles, teeth, wings, tailfins, and everything in between. Skyler was capable of using everything, though with the new parts she seemed to have to struggle to discover exactly which muscles did what. But she was rapidly improving her control, even as they went through the list. She was entirely adept at moving her ears by the time they had finished.

Hiccup was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when the doctor accidentally brushed Skyler's nose with her coat. He saw Skyler's nose wrinkle and had a sudden flashback. Reacting quicker than thought he dove, tackling the doctor away from in front of Skyler a moment before she sneezed. Not snot, but a tiny blue plasma blast, which dented the concrete floor right where the doctor had been standing.

The entire room was silent, except for Skyler, who was whining in apology. The scientists had never seen anything like that before because, with everything else that had been going on, Toothless had never demonstrated his firepower.

Hiccup helped the doctor up. "Yeah, Night Fury sneezes are a bit more dangerous. But at least you can't catch anything from that kind of sneeze, right?" He moved over to Skyler, who was still whining. "It's fine. Toothless can't control that either." He put a hand on her head before he realized that that was a bit strange given who this was, but she pushed into it before he could take it back.

This little accident seemed to have shattered Skyler's exuberance with her new body and driven in the reality. She was no longer human. Even her sneezes were different and potentially deadly. She could no longer physically speak English, and she didn't know how to speak this species' language yet. She could apparently spit fire if she wanted, and she now had wings and a tail. And so much more. Skyler was quivering in fear at the overwhelming strangeness.

Toothless saw her and understood what must be happening. He walked over and put a wing over her. He simply held her close in a protective gesture without saying anything. No one had the translating tablet around, and Skyler didn't understand him yet. He could literally feel her relax under his wing.

The doctor had recovered from her scare. She took in Skyler's state. "Well, everything seems good. We'll go through the rest later. For now, just try to relax." She turned to Toothless. "And no funny business. Try to control yourself." She said that half seriously and half jokingly.

Toothless nodded seriously. He definitely wouldn't try anything like that. He wondered if the doctor realized he was as in control of himself as she herself was. That warning was borderline insulting.

Hiccup laughed. "Toothless can control himself. Besides, I doubt they'll be alone together anytime soon anyway. Everyone will want to be sure Skyler is okay, and make sure the transfer didn't have any subtle side-effects. Skyler just became the most popular person in the bunker."

* * *

Hiccup's prediction was only partially correct. Skyler was the center of attention, but she was concentrating entirely on gaining complete control of her own body, so she really didn't have time for anyone else. Added to that was the frustration of being unable to verbally communicate with anyone because the translators only translated the language she had yet to learn. If she did want to communicate, she had to write, a slow and painstaking process with claws. So, she threw herself into learning the language as well.

At that, she and Toothless were making steady progress, but it was slow. By the time a week had passed, Skyler was fairly good at maneuvering in general, and her understanding of the new language was nearing basic comprehension, although she still couldn't speak it well at all. Using new kinds of vocal cords apparently took practice.

But in general, Skyler was happy with her situation, now that the initial shock had passed. She followed Toothless pretty much everywhere, and when he went flying, she sat outside and watched, just like before. Hiccup was present for much of this too, as was Iris. But given Toothless was the teacher, there wasn't much they could do. However, about six days after Skyler's transfer, they abruptly had something else to worry about.

"So, how do we handle this one?" Hiccup was a bit concerned, but not overly so. He hadn't been present for the last meeting with the President, but he had heard that it went well.

Iris pulled up the email she had received on the computer terminal she was standing by. "He said I need to have two team members with me on the call. I would pick Skyler, but that isn't an option."

"Actually, when will the President find out about all of this?" Hiccup was remembering how most people reacted to dragons. "Will it ever be safe to tell him?"

"Probably after nuclear war starts. There wouldn't be anything he could do about it then. He'd be stuck in a bunker like everyone else." Iris smirked. "And his bunker will be in the middle of Washington D.C. in all likelihood, so he wouldn't be leaving it any time soon."

Hiccup understood that. Washington would probably be ground zero of at least one nuclear warhead. Even they wouldn't be able to get close in their new bodies if that was the case. There was still that ten-mile radius of radiation strong enough to affect Night Furies. "So we tell him as soon as he can't stop us."

"Exactly. Although I'm not sure if he would even try. He has other things to worry about." Iris glanced at the computer screen again. "But I still need two people. I was thinking you and Abdul. You are our human dragon-expert, and Abdul is our leading geneticist. You two are as good as anyone."

Hiccup smiled. "Well, I can't speak for Abdul, but I'm honored. What exactly are we going to say this time?"

Iris frowned. That might be more of an issue this time around. "Not what we did last time. Members of the other teams will be there. They know very well all the 'possible solutions' we presented to the original problem were debunked a while ago. We need to show at least a little of what we're really doing, to keep suspicion away."

Hiccup nodded. "Like admitting to stealing to hide something way worse."

Iris laughed. "Yes, and that has given me a good idea of exactly how much we can reveal..."

* * *

President Teller walked into the teleconference room, surrounded by security. Even since the assassination attempt, his security had never left his side. That was one of the reasons this was going to be done over computer, an eleven-way video call. No possible assassination attempts through a monitor. He knew very well which country the assassin had come from. But officially he did not, because to announce who it was would be disastrous, politically speaking. Teller had all but given up hope that this could all be resolved peacefully, and he was now extremely thankful his predecessor had set this program up. It was looking to be a certainty they would be needed.

One of the security agents set up the secure link to the conference call. "Sir, it's set up. They'll show up as they connect."

Teller stared at the screen. It was divided into ten sections, along with a bar at the bottom with controls. As he watched, the third section flashed to life, resolving into a video and audio feed of the inside of team three's bunker. Teller held his silence and waited a few minutes as all of the teams popped into place. Team eight was the last to show up. They seemed somewhat frazzled. The three men in the image were all in various states of dishevelment, and it looked like one of them had a small burn on his forehead.

Teller recalled what that team was doing. "Team eight, trouble with something explosive recently?"

The man in charge of that team chuckled nervously. "Something of an engine misfire, actually just a few minutes ago. Nothing major."

Teller cleared his throat. "It appears everyone could make it. I assume you all know each other, but for the sake of courtesy we will go around and re-introduce ourselves." This was for his benefit; Teller was fairly certain he didn't know half of these people by name, despite meeting them a few months ago.

He listened disinterestedly, making sure to remember all of the names for the remainder of the meeting, at least. The leader of team eight, the engine misfiring group, was Simon Timmons. But Teller abruptly was forced to pay attention when he heard the name of a young man he didn't remember from team nine. There was actually something of a confused silence after he spoke.

Teller wasn't sure if he had heard that correctly. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

The man with green eyes confidently responded. "Hiccup Haddock." He smiled. "That isn't my full name, but that's even worse."

Teller tried to hold a neutral expression. "Very well. You'll have to tell me sometime how someone acquires a name as unique as that one." He motioned for team ten to introduce themselves. He noted as they did that the burly Scott in charge of team ten was known only as Angus, who gave no last name.

After the introductions, Angus laughed. "Nice to finally meet you Hiccup. Stan and Brett had quite the report when they got back." He seemed to be holding back his accent quite well at the moment.

Hiccup smiled. "Yes, and you all have my thanks for that. For obvious reasons."

Angus waved his hand, visibly dismissing the notion. "Ach, we were just doing the right thing."

Teller decided to get the conversation back on track. "So, as to why I've called you all here. First, there's some information you need to know." He frowned. "We have reason to believe one of the many terrorist groups scattered throughout the Middle East has acquired a small nuclear warhead, and the ability to fire it long-range."

He didn't mention who the terrorists had gotten it from. It was most likely North Korea, given that they were the only ones that truly wanted to watch the world burn that badly. "You know what that means. As soon as that thing is fired, whoever is the target will assume it's from one of their enemies, and well... game over. For us. For you, that would be the equivalent of time running out. So, think of this as a final briefing. What do we have ready now, or that won't be affected by nuclear war actually occurring?"

That was team one's cue. They always went first at pretty much everything, solely because they were arbitrarily assigned the number one at some point in time.

"Our bunker is nowhere near done, but we've built it in quadrants, each of which will be fully self-sustaining. We've currently got about three hundred people living in the completed quadrants, most of which are civilians." Team one sounded proud, given they were being called to account three years before their scheduled completion date.

Team two and team three reported similar stories of partial success. The vault groups had also all completed at least one vault and were working on duplicates elsewhere. They would obviously keep working until the last possible moment. Teller had expected that. These were the safe but boring projects. Now, on to the three more interesting ones. Teller smiled in anticipation. "Team eight?"

Simon stepped forward. "We've spent several months stockpiling raw material. We think we're about two years away from a usable colony and rocket design that will allow an eventual return, but we will have that time, regardless of nuclear war. We have everything we can possibly need in the bunker, including a launch silo. We'll complete our task, and send ourselves as the colonizing wave of Mars, in about two years."

Teller nodded, smiling happily. "That is excellent news." He looked at the members of team nine. He was slightly surprised Morian wasn't one of the two Iris picked, but that wasn't important. "Team nine, what about you?"

Iris smiled. "We do have much to report, but it would make more sense of team ten went first."

Iris had contacted Angus and told him that he could tell everything he knew. This was the lesser event they would draw attention to.

Teller nodded in assent, intrigued. "Well then, go on team ten."

Angus smiled as he spoke. "We've already constructed several of our underwater living zones. They're basically bunkers with a view and irradiated seafood in the near future, but at least they are much easier to build. The first two are already occupied by civilians, and they report no problems. But that isn't all. We found something in the ice when we were setting up the prototype." His voice dropped to a conspiratory tone. "And when team nine requested we send it to them, on the down-low, we ended up doing exactly that." He had switched over his team's feed to the footage of the discovery and was speaking as it played. "We figured, why not?"

Teller was somewhat unnerved by the strange creature team ten had found frozen. He wasn't sure what to think.

The leader of team five, a small woman of oriental descent, was not so reluctant to speak. "You should have sent that to us, for study and cataloging! Why did you send it to team nine?"

Iris broke in. "Because we wanted to bring it back, not just study the corpse."

There was silence. Eventually, someone from one of the other teams asked the obvious question. "Did you?"

Iris grinned. "This is live video and audio from our cafeteria right now." She switched over to said footage.

Teller stared in shocked bemusement at the scene of a large winged reptile... in the middle of a cafeteria. Entirely unguarded, unrestrained, and apparently... watching a game of poker being played by three scientists at a nearby table?

Teller looked on as the reptile walked over to the table and made a strange noise. His jaw dropped when a tablet nearby piped up in response to the noise, apparently relaying a request to... be taught how to play? Teller could only watch mutely as the men happily dealt the massive reptile in and began explaining the rules. As if it was totally normal. A few of the other scientists were watching, but others were totally unconcerned. As if this was an everyday occurrence to them.

Iris let the footage continue until Toothless won his first hand and then switched back to the original view of herself, Hiccup, and Abdul. "I really hope he doesn't get too good at that. He's already got the perfect poker voice, given the translating software doesn't convey emotion."

Teller noted with interest that Angus was grinning, but all the other teams were in various states of shock, just as he was. "It... can talk?"

Iris nodded. "Apparently he speaks using quite a few sound frequencies we can't hear, but Skyler put together a translating software with his help. It works quite well now." Her expression grew serious. "He's not an animal. Our only job is to preserve intelligent life on earth. He definitely counts. And he wasn't the only one frozen that ice." She gestured to Hiccup, who waved. "Meet the oldest man on earth."

Teller laughed. "Quite the bold claim for someone not a day over twenty-two by the looks. How old do you think you are?" He had a hard time taking any of this seriously. It was just too absurd.

Hiccup spoke seriously. "By our best estimates, about a thousand years older than I look. Being flash-frozen let me skip that time. You have no idea how weird it was to have to catch up on a thousand years of history."

One of the scientists from team two spoke up. "And I suppose you have proof of this ridiculous assertion?"

Iris smiled warmly at the screen. "It's all up in our databases now. Footage of the revival process, where we found Hiccup frozen, hidden in Toothless's wings. It would be incredibly difficult to fake that. We also have footage of both of them learning English, if that interests you. There are a few videos we didn't put up, but those were the more personal aspects of informing someone that they just missed a thousand years of time."

Teller decided to address something. "You do realize that that was illegal, reviving an unknown animal without getting approval first?"

Hiccup laughed. "The way I understand it, they were just following orders, albeit unintentionally. Toothless and I both definitely count as 'intelligent life'." He smirked. "And in case you're wondering, we're the two new additions to team nine."

That meant... "Wait, you were in the bunker when I visited? Was the surgery real, or just an excuse?"

Hiccup frowned. "Entirely real. And it really had started before we knew you were coming."

After that, team nine had to field a few obligatory questions from the other teams. Iris eventually cut them off by reminding them that the answers to all of their questions were likely already in the database.

Teller had certainly been given a lot to think about. "Well, I'd say that about wraps this up. Good work everyone, and good luck team eight on your trip to Mars. I'll contact you all again once I'm stuck in a bunker with nothing better to do. Oh, and Iris? Would you tell Morian that I say to give me a call? I want to talk to him at some point, see how he's doing."

Iris flinched, though Teller didn't notice it. That might be a problem. "I'll tell him."

The teams began signing off. Iris was the first team leader to do so. She slumped in her chair. "Thank you both. That would have been horrible on my own, even if all you did was back me up."

Abdul grinned. "Well, I'd say that worked perfectly."

Hiccup laughed as he considered something. "Was the poker game really a coincidence? Because the fact that they saw Toothless learn how to bluff while we were in the process of bluffing them was pretty ironic." He stood. "They were so busy dealing with the discovery of Toothless, they never thought to ask what we're actually doing now. Just as planned."

Iris also stood. "Totally a coincidence. But, everyone knew they were going to be on camera, so they probably wanted to make an impression. I'm going to go tell Skyler she can go into the cafeteria again."

Hiccup and Abdul went straight to the cafeteria. When they entered, they were greeted with a single question. "Did it work?"

Abdul smiled. "Yes, they were entirely sidetracked. Not a single question about our progress. The poker game was a nice touch."

Toothless looked up from the cards he was precariously holding in between his claws. "I thought so. The hardest part is keeping the cards together." He nosed at a pile of poker chips. "And I'm not sure why I need these."

Abdul grinned and walked over to look at Toothless's cards. "The chips represent money."

Toothless looked unimpressed. "I don't need that either."

Abdul thought about that. "Actually, that's a good point. You don't need money in here, and you can fend for yourself in the outside world." He had an idea. "You could always give them to someone else."

One of the poker players objected. "Hey, don't give him any motivation! It's hard enough to read a competitor of our species, let alone Toothless. He'll crush us if he practices!"

Toothless laughed. "I'm going all in." He nosed all of his chips into the center.

Two of the players immediately folded. The last remaining player stared at Toothless for a good thirty seconds. He sighed in defeat when Toothless started laughing at him and making strange faces to taunt him. "I just can't read a reptile. What the heck, all in." He shoved his chips to match Toothless's.

Toothless's face fell, his ears drooping and eyes cast downwards. He showed his cards, which consisted of only a measly pair of jacks. He had been bluffing.

The two scientists who had folded were very unhappy to see that. But their disappointment was nothing compared to the final participant. He grimaced. "I called your bluff..." He showed that he had a pair of sevens. "But you still won."

Toothless grinned. He put the cards down, and left the table, leaving his chips. "I think I'm done here. Keep the chips; I really don't need them." He had seen Skyler walk into the cafeteria. He happily ran over to meet her halfway.

One of the scientists who had folded laughed at that. "Some people have everything. An amazing poker face, wings, the ability to breath fire..." He considered that. "We're all going to have great poker faces soon. We can get him back then."

Everyone else laughed. Abdul was looking forward to seeing that. "But who would shuffle the deck?"

One of the players waved his hand dismissively. "We'll figure it out. Maybe make a deck for Night Furies, one with thicker cards..."

Another of the scientists nodded. "I'll get on that. We'll make them out of strong plastic." He rose, apparently going to do that right now. The other poker players followed him out.

* * *

Iris had informed Skyler of the success of the meeting. She was now on her way to keep her word. She had taken over for the unlucky person who had drawn the short straw to deal with Morian today so that she had a good reason to be around him. She was carrying the usual plate of food. She pulled back the window and saw Morian sitting there. He looked bored, and still quite put-out by his situation. "Morian. The President says to give him a call sometime." Iris grinned. "I promised to tell you that. But I didn't promise to give you the opportunity to call him." She slid the plate of food through the slot.

Morian moved to pick it up. As he did, he sneered venomously at her. "You've made an enemy of the President's personal friend. When I tell him about the monster you're hiding here-"

Iris laughed. "Too late. He already knows. I think he wants to meet Mr. Fury someday, if at all possible." She had seen the President's look of wonder as he watched Toothless learn to play poker. "Maybe challenge him to a game of poker."

Morian gaped at her. That comment made no sense to him. He quickly regained his composure. "If the President already knows, why are you keeping me in here?"

Iris sighed. "Because no one knows everything. No one but us. I promise you, as soon as it's safe to let you out, we will. We don't enjoy having to bring you food, or keeping anyone trapped against their will."

Morian laughed bitterly. "And when will that be?"

Iris thought about the President's new information. "Apparently, any day now. You should be thankful you're here in a bunker." She left.

Morian wasn't at all pleased by that. Iris and Haddock had made an enemy, whether or not they cared. He couldn't do anything directly, especially with that monster apparently roaming freely, but they were going to let him out at some point. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **Did anyone really think Morian was out of the picture? He's not exactly the kind to be above petty or not so petty revenge.**

 **Also, a bit of clarification. This little project, both in its original capacity and what it's turned into, was and is intended only as a failsafe, and will therefore not be expanded very much in scale, regardless of whether the President knows. As things stand, Skyler and Toothless will be the only ones until it becomes necessary to actually enact the failsafes, aka until Nuclear war breaks out. Everyone's still kinda hoping Teller or some other world leader pulls off a diplomatic miracle, no matter how unlikely it looks at the moment.**


	12. Chapter 12

The entire team, except for Toothless and Skyler, were gathered in the genetics lab once again. Toothless and Skyler were stuck spectating from the doorway, just like last time. Iris had just finished explaining how the conference went, and the President's new information. Once she finished, Abdul moved over to stand by the main computer. He spoke. "Iris, should we start the process of making the next few Fury bodies? We can only actually transfer once every two weeks because that's how long it takes to build up the energy needed, but we can at least have the next few growing in the meantime. It sounds like we'll need them soon."

Iris considered that. "Yes. It will save time if we have them already going." She looked into the crowd. "Would everyone who is not going to make the change raise their hands?"

Five scientists in total responded. One of the doctors, two chemists, an engineer, and one of the geneticists. They weren't going to do it for a variety of reasons, some personal and some practical. It was entirely voluntary, and for one reason or another, these were the people who, while they supported the idea, weren't personally willing. No one minded that.

Iris nodded. "You have a geneticist and a doctor, so you can run the process for the rest of us, once Abdul goes. But I think he has said he'll be the last to transfer, so that shouldn't be much of an issue." She gestured to the three vats. "We can make three bodies right now. Does anyone object to Hiccup and I being among those three?"

Iris had considered this carefully. Hiccup made sense, and the team wouldn't be losing too much in the time he was unable to easily communicate. But she was a less justifiable subject. She had responsibilities to the team, and should probably be going as one of the last people. But she had already delegated her necessary responsibilities among the others for the time in which she would be learning the language. And she felt that she needed to go now. She needed to be able to lead as a Night Fury, and going sooner rather than later gave her more time to practice.

There were no spoken objections. Iris sighed. "That makes two. We can start one more body right now, though it will be the last of the three to actually be transferred into. Any volunteers?"

The head doctor shook her head. "I would, but I should be second to last, just before Abdul."

Immediately after that, the only other doctor in the room who was willing spoke up. "I'll go."

His name was Wilson Steinn, Iris recalled. She knew him moderately well, as she had been working with everyone here for years. "Okay, that makes three. Abdul?"

Abdul turned to the computer. "I'll do Wilson first." He ran the process. The end result was an almost undersized male Night Fury with bright orange eyes. Abdul thought that that was a bit strange. He checked a few parts of the DNA.

"Uh, we might need to redo this one. He's got some sort of condition. I don't think it's life-threatening, but we really don't need to start generation zero with any defective genes. We'll develop our own in a few natural generations anyway."

Wilson agreed that it would probably a bad idea to start out with having known conditions in the gene pool. He watched as Abdul reset the process. The next Fury DNA to be created had light yellow eyes, and was entirely normal, though possibly a bit stouter in proportion to Toothless.

Everyone in the room was beginning to realize that eye color and proportion were really the only naturally variant parts of Night Furies. They were all the exact same shade of black in color and didn't have anything like hair or clothing to distinguish themselves. So eye color was actually fairly important, as one of the most obvious markers of individuality.

Wilson was fine with this one, and Abdul had made sure there were no issues. "That will do."

Abdul sent the DNA to the first vat, which hummed to life. "Hiccup, you're next."

"Actually..." Hiccup sounded thoughtful. "No, we can't risk it."

"Risk what?" Abdul thought he knew what Hiccup was considering.

"I was going to ask if you could make me, well, Toothless's brother." Hiccup winced. "But from what you've told me, we need all the diversity we can get."

"To a point." Abdul conceded, smiling slightly at the hopeful looks that elicited from both Hiccup and Toothless. "But it's not extremely important that we all have entirely different traits, genetically speaking. We just need to avoid any damaging recessive traits in this generation. Those will come soon enough through natural mutation, but to start with them while having so few in the first few generations could be deadly. You being Toothless's biological brother is entirely feasible..." He frowned. "If a bit annoying to specify to the computer. Iris, if you agree..."

"Of course, if there's no harm." Iris smiled. "Who am I to deny them that much?"

Abdul spent a few minutes with one of the more talented programmers of the group, working to inform the randomization program that the next generated variation needed to be just distant enough from the original. It was not an easy task. By the end of it he seemed decidedly annoyed, though that annoyance was directed at the computer. The button was pushed a bit more forcefully than necessary.

The computer went to work modifying the DNA. The process on the monitor was still just as fascinating as before. When it was done, the resulting Fury was very similar to Toothless, despite looks not being a specific component of brotherhood. The eyes were a different shade of green, pure emerald instead of acid green, and the Fury as a whole almost seemed a bit lanky in proportion, though slightly taller than Toothless.

Toothless warbled happily. He definitely approved. Hiccup was beaming happily.

After a few moments of admiration Abdul sent the specified genetic code to the second vat, and undid the makeshift additional specifications he and the other scientist had placed on the program. "Alright, Iris's turn." He switched a few settings around and began the process once more. The resulting Fury had a startlingly vibrant purple in eye color and had the same proportional shifts that seemed to be the common indication of a female Night Fury. Nothing strange or coincidental about this particular strand of DNA. Abdul made sure to check that it wasn't genetically damaged like Wilson's first try had been. The odds were extremely low of that happening, but he had just had it happen. He wanted to be sure. "A perfectly good Night Fury, with purple eyes. Happy with that?"

Iris, who had brown eyes at the moment, liked that immensely. "Yes, That is good."

Abdul sent the final set of DNA to the last vat, and the event was over. Most of the scientists drifted away, knowing there was nothing to see. Eventually, the room cleared out enough for Toothless and Skyler to enter and stand along with Hiccup, Iris, and Abdul. They all stared at the vats. Wilson had left with everyone else.

"Well, I guess the computer is all out of coincidences." Abdul was thinking mostly of the oddly rare genetic defect Wilson had ended up with the first time around, along with Skyler's appropriately colored eyes from before.

Hiccup laughed. "You say that now. But what other coincidences could it come up with?"

Abdul took that as a serious question. "There are a few. Matching eye color, or genetic rarities like albinism, assuming that's possible for Night Furies. It probably won't happen, but it could."

Iris had a question. "Can Night Fury eyes be any color? They seem to vary really widely."

Abdul answered. "I'm not sure. I'd guess yes. There doesn't look to be any limit, like with humans. We get brown, green, blue, and that's about it, barring genetic quirks. Furies seem to get any and everything. We've already seen green, blue, orange, yellow, and purple. I wouldn't be surprised to see red, cyan and grey, among others. Those seem to be the ones indicated by what we've seen already."

Toothless chuffed. "Does it really matter?"

Skyler, who was still improving her speech, attempted to respond. All the translator picked up was "Yes. Fun imagine, unique." She seemed to have difficulties pronouncing connecting words.

Toothless was instantly absorbed in helping her improve that particular facet of speech. The two began to practice then and there. They ended up turning the translator off in order to concentrate.

Hiccup laughed. "It's encouraging to see we'll have such a dedicated teacher."

Iris watched the two. "On that note, when do you think he'll teach her to fly?"

That entirely caught Skyler's attention. She looked back at Iris, and then at Toothless pleadingly.

Toothless turned the translator back on. "Once she's entirely adapted to moving as a Night Fury. But she isn't ready yet. Ideally, she'd understand me entirely, instead of haltingly like right now. So probably in a few weeks." He took in Skyler's pleading expression. "Skyler thinks she's ready now. She might be, but it's too risky. So she's going to have to wait." That was directed more to Skyler than Iris. "No matter how much she tries to convince me otherwise."

Skyler abruptly stopped her sad act and grinned. The Fury equivalent of saying that it had been worth a try. She started bouncing impatiently.

Hiccup laughed. "Well, which do you think will happen first? Skyler flying, the new Night Fury bodies finishing growing, or nuclear war?"

Abdul and Iris were silent for a few seconds. Abdul spoke first. "The bodies will probably finish first. They take sixteen days. But Skyler will be a close second."

Iris had a much more sobering prediction. "Nuclear war. The terrorist group with a nuclear warhead will want to act quickly before they can be found and stopped."

"Well then, I'll guess Skyler flying. What should the prize be?" Hiccup thought he had an idea if there were no suggestions.

Toothless spoke. "The winner gets to be Skyler's first passenger, once she's good enough in the air."

Abdul laughed. "Are we sure that's a prize? It sounds like a risky flight to me."

Skyler chimed in. "For you. Man of little faith. Others be fine."

Abdul frowned at her. "Did you just say that it would be risky for me because I doubted you?"

Skyler nodded.

"Great. Now I don't want to win."

Everyone laughed, though, in reality, they were all hoping Hiccup won. For Skyler's sake, and because it would mean nuclear war had been postponed at least that long.

But that wasn't going to happen. Two days later, at what was considered noon in the bunker's time zone, the first nuclear warhead was launched, and at a target no one expected. It had come from the terrorist group, as predicted… but they had targeted Moscow, Russia. Which was a massive backstab on the part of the North Koreans who had supplied the terrorists. But Russia didn't know it was North Korea's doing.

Thanks to the realities of nuclear war, the Russian officials only had time to order all nuclear weapons fired at pre-designated targets, before being rushed to bunkers, some of which were close enough to actually be reached before the nuclear missile struck. At that point, everything unraveled in the mess everyone had foreseen but been powerless to stop. The attitude of 'mutually assured destruction' came into play all over the world. A few decades ago, it might not have been so bad. But now, with so many countries armed with more advanced nuclear weapons, it was absolute chaos worldwide.

Russia had been thorough in assigning targets for destruction beforehand, and their retaliatory strike pulled pretty much everyone into the fight. All of Russia's allies decided to get in as much offense as possible before the inevitable retaliation and followed suit. North Korea alone held back it's nuclear weapons, claiming last minute confusion to its allies. In the few minutes before destruction, those attacked by Russia did the same. All over the world, capital cities and cities with strategic importance evaporated in mushroom clouds. A few world leaders had bunkers close enough nearby to get to in time, but many did not, or did not want to, preferring to go down with their country.

And then there was one country with nuclear weapons left. North Korea had held them until the end, when several nuclear attacks from enemy countries were closing in. They fired. But they had aimed their few nuclear missiles not at targets of strategic importance, but at population centers and the few neutral countries that had escaped mostly unscathed. In their last action, North Korea made sure the entire world burned, not just the aggressive and defensive countries.

Billions died in the initial strikes, and millions more were doomed to death by radiation poisoning simply by being too close. Not a single country had escaped entirely, and most governments were in shambles, nonexistent for all practical purposes. World War three had come, and now it was over. Because after that, just surviving was on the minds of pretty much everyone. No one had any will to fight at the moment. Well, almost no one.

* * *

Morian was shocked to see the monster at his door. He had never grown used to that massive reptilian face, despite seeing it fairly often. He was even more shocked when the door to his cell opened, and more than a bit terrified.

Toothless simply sighed, and spoke softly, though the translator sounded the same as always. "There is no longer a reason to keep you here. You are free to roam the bunker as you wish, except for the main genetics lab. Step foot in there, and you will die a slow and painful death… and that's if I don't catch you. Security systems have been installed, and they are lethal in nature."

Morian was absolutely terrified by that information. He entirely believed the monster. But he still didn't know why he was being released. "Why now? What's changed?"

Toothless simply walked away. He knew Morian would find out soon enough. He went back to the cafeteria and found Skyler still where he had left her. Staring in horror at a digital map of the world, and the massive portions of it that were covered in large red circles, which indicated nuclear blasts had occurred there. He put his wing over her in comfort. He spoke, not currently using a translator, but trusting Skyler understood enough to get the message. "We knew it was going to happen. That doesn't make it any less terrible."

Skyler nodded numbly. She knew that, but it was still horrible.

Morian ran into Haddock outside the cafeteria. He instinctively shied away, but he was too confused to hold back his questions. "What's going on?"

Haddock numbly gestured at the cafeteria. "See for yourself."

Morian entered the cafeteria and quickly noticed that almost everyone was inside. He looked in the direction they were all staring and saw the map. He understood now. They had set him free because there was no one he could tell anymore. No one would care if he could even reach anybody.

At least, that was what they thought. He carefully left the cafeteria and made his way to a computer terminal. This was probably the only chance he'd get. It was a huge relief to see that the internet still functioned, meaning at least one of the central servers out there was still running for the moment. He quickly opened up a more shady website he had found a few years ago and put out a notice. A job offer, of sorts. As was the site's reputation, he got a reply immediately. He smiled as he read the message, and quickly confirmed the transaction. The best part was, this entire thing wasn't going to cost him a dime. He methodically wiped all traces of what he had done. They wouldn't be ready for about eight months thanks to their location and situation, but he had the time, he could wait. No one would know until it was too late.

Morian reentered the cafeteria and noticed something he had somehow missed before. There wasn't one monster, but two! He was still confident in the plan he had set into motion, but that was worrying. His worry intensified when both of the monsters noticed him in the corner of the room. The one he knew, the one with green eyes, simply grinned a horrible grin. The new one, the one with blue eyes, did something else. It approached him. He quivered in fear. "What do you want?"

The monster laughed. "To see you. More accurately, to see you scared of me. Quite a change from our last encounter. You ignored me like I didn't exist."

Morian hated being confused, but that was a constant state of mind for him nowadays. "I've never seen you before!"

The monster rumbled. "Not like this. You'll figure it out eventually." It left, returning to the other monster's side.

Morian reflected that he was going to have to share a bunker with these two for several months. He almost wished he hadn't been let out of the cell. But then, he wouldn't have been able to set up his little surprise if that was the case. At least there were only two of them.

He watched from a corner as Iris, that young girl who was still in charge, stood on a table and caught everyone's attention. He noticed Haddock was standing nearby, watching her with a very concerned expression. A connection was made in his mind and he smiled subtly. That might make things a bit more difficult, but it was helpful to know.

Iris spoke to the crowd. "This is why we are here. The world has fallen upon its own sword, metaphorically speaking. Humanity just did its level best to destroy itself. This will be remembered as the single most bloody day in the history of the world." She recomposed herself. "But again, we are here because of this. We were tasked to protect intelligent life. And of all the teams, we have taken the most ambitious, but also the most drastic path in doing so."

Morian noticed that everyone else seemed to understand exactly what Iris meant. He found her words slightly disturbing because she seemed to be referring to something other than their given goal, genetically modifying people to be radiation-resistant. And he still didn't know where those monsters had come from.

Iris continued. "Now we have no more reason to wait. It has happened, no matter whether we were here or not. We are the future of an entire species."

Morian sniffed. That was presumptuous, given there were nine other teams just as important in the survival of humanity.

Iris stepped down and motioned to Haddock. He stepped up, his eyes clear and sad. "I can't say I've ever seen anything this bad. But I've seen things like this on a smaller scale. You all know my history, and you know I've seen some things that might be a close second in sheer destructive power. I've seen a fireball big enough to engulf most of an island. And I've seen my own home smashed and torn apart by spikes of ice larger than houses. So I can say I've seen destruction, if not even close to this scale. And I'll say right now, this is bad. But it can be survived. It isn't the end." He smiled. "And I think we all know that the sky and sea are still pretty much the same, even after a thousand years. So we'll be fine. Some things never change." He stepped down.

Morian had no idea what the heck Haddock was blabbering about. He spoke of impossibilities with enough insanity to sound as if he truly remember impossible things. Then Morian involuntarily stiffened as the green-eyed monster stood on the table. Was this thing going to give a speech too? Iris and Haddock he understood to some degree, but what could that monster possibly have to say?

Toothless spoke, the translator keeping up fairly well. "I, alone among us in this respect, have never known what it is like to be human. But I respect them nonetheless. My best friend is human, and I wouldn't change how we met for anything. I don't know if this is the fault of that species in particular or just the outcome of intelligent progression and the imperfections of all living things. But we can try to do better. And maybe we'll succeed." He glanced at the blue-eyed monster. "I know I have seen things that I never considered possible. Please remember, that for everything terrible humanity has done, something good was also done. Humanity appears to have destroyed dragons once. But you've also brought us back. Humanity has almost doomed the future of intelligent life here. But you've also increased the number of intelligent species inhabiting the planet back to the original number. Two. Not one. Maybe this all happened because our species couldn't balance each other. No one knows. I know Hiccup and I were working towards that goal, peaceful coexistence. We might yet succeed. Just a thousand years later." He stepped down, and the blue-eyed monster stepped up.

"And I risked my life to make sure we could fix things. I don't care if Skyler Hermanez is remembered by future generations or forgotten entirely. I did this to make saving a sapient species possible in practice, and not just theory. So I stick to my last words in English. Totally worth the risk."

Morian's head was spinning. That thing used to be Skyler Hermanez, the young chemist he had interacted with once or twice in passing? That simply wasn't possible. He was a moderately skilled geneticist, and he could see absolutely no way that could possibly have been accomplished. It couldn't be. But the blue-eyed monster had implied that they had met before.

"What kind of person would voluntarily turn themselves into such a monster?" Morian hadn't realized he had spoken that out loud. Silence abruptly fell over the room.

Haddock approached him. "Monster? At least get the name right. They're called Night Furies. The only other intelligent species on the planet." He grinned darkly. "I doubt you meant to say that out loud. Not wise to insult someone Vikings called 'The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself' intentionally." He saw Morian's questioning gaze. "Take some time to look at our files in the database. I don't feel like explaining to someone with the open-mindedness of a brick wall." He walked away.

The gathering in the room lingered for a while, trying to come to terms with the sudden destruction of massive swathes of the world, and the world's population. Morian made his way to his old room, realizing that his things had never been moved. He idly unpacked, knowing he'd be here for the foreseeable future. He didn't know if stepping foot outside would be a fatal experiment or not, so he wasn't going to try. Morian for one was entirely fine with spending the rest of his life here. If it wasn't for the other occupants. Two in particular. But he could wait.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Toothless sounded unhappy, conveyed through the whine that translated into. The day Hiccup had referred to a while ago had come.

Iris nodded. "We can't get shipments of fresh fish anymore. No one is willing to even leave their town anymore. Fear of radiation poisoning is pretty much inevitable. We're about two hours flight from the nearest ocean, even for you. So you'll need to get used to eating this stuff. Both of you. We've been making as much as possible for a while now, and storing it. By our math, we'll have enough for every Fury we plan on making, until about two months after the last transfer. So you won't starve."

Toothless sniffed the protein extract bar warily. Skyler laughed at him, and grabbed one, swallowing it immediately. "Get used to it. These don't taste so bad." She had the advantage of having eaten a similar food for the last few years, as every human living in the bunker did for protein.

Toothless chuffed. "You're going to need to get used to eating raw fish after we leave. Don't get too used to these things. Fish is much better anyway." He carefully picked up and swallowed a serving of the protein bar, which was designed to provide the same nutrients as his normal fish diet would. "They aren't very good. But I can force myself to eat them."

Hiccup nodded. "I would tease you, but I have less than two weeks before I'm stuck eating exactly the same thing."

Toothless snorted at him. "Enjoy normal food while you can."

* * *

It was five days before Hiccup's transfer, and Toothless had decided that Skyler was ready to learn to fly. They had tested the immediate area around the bunker and deemed there to be a non-zero amount of radiation around. As a result, it was just the Night Furies. Skyler mostly understood Toothless and could speak fairly well now, and she had fine control over all of herself. She was ready, at least in theory.

The two Furies were standing on top of the squat bunker exterior. Toothless spoke into the brisk air. "First, you must learn to glide. Jump off, and hold your wings out and tail straight." He demonstrated, not touching the ground for about a hundred yards.

Skyler was confident. "I've got this." She tried to mimic what Toothless had done but forgot to hold her tail straight. She let it drop to one side, and her glide quickly morphed into a crash. She jumped back to her feet and raced back to the top of the bunker before Toothless could say anything. "I know what I did wrong."

Toothless smiled. He knew she would keep trying as long as she had to. He nodded a silent assent to her trying again.

Skyler succeeded in gliding to Toothless and landed already running, circling around him in excitement. "What's next?"

Toothless purred. "Actual flying. I hope everyone learns as quickly as you do." He knew that gliding was fairly simple, but he vaguely remembered it taking him a dozen or more tries to do that well in his youth. Skyler would learn fast.

* * *

Morian was snooping, as was his pastime. He was no longer barred from anywhere in the bunker save the main genetics lab. Today he was investigating the other storage rooms. He happened upon one that was sealed, and temperature-regulated. He broke in with little difficulty. And immediately paled, struggling not to throw up. Stored inside the freezing cold room was what was undoubtedly Skyler's body. Her human body. It was sealed inside something of a glass storage container. He didn't know this was just in case something unforeseen happened. All he saw was a perfectly preserved body.

He carefully closed the door and left the room exactly as he had found it. Now he was even less sure what was going on around here. The monster claimed to be Skyler, but her body was frozen in a random storage room. Was it really Skyler, or was something else going on? All he knew was that he really didn't like any of this. He decided to follow up on something Haddock had told him and accessed the files team nine had posted in the database pertaining to Haddock and the green-eyed monster, and began to read. Once he was done, he had the answers to a few questions. He also had suspicions about what was going on in the main genetics lab. Not that it mattered now. When the time came, it wouldn't matter what these people were planning. Two Night Furies wouldn't be enough to stop the ones he'd called in.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **Guest3, I would now like to reveal that your suggestion had been in the story from the beginning, in essence. There were actually three versions of that scene. In the first, Hiccup rolled the dice, metaphorically speaking, and ended up Toothless's brother by pure chance. I thought that was too much of a coincidence, so in the second version of the scene, Wilson rolled being Toothless's brother and immediately passed that random luck over to Hiccup, in an effort to make the luck less perfect. But after seeing your suggestion and my beta adding his own weight behind it, I came to the (possibly belated) realization that it truly was best to remove random chance from the equation entirely, hence the third and final version. Also, I would like to note that with this chapter we've passed the halfway mark for this story, which is 23 chapters counting the epilogue.**


	13. Chapter 13

Morian knew something was going on. It had been a few weeks, and everyone seemed nervous today, for no visible reason. There had been no announcement, no visible changes. It was like they had all been waiting for something. It slightly unnerved him.

He entered the cafeteria for lunch, after a morning of doing absolutely nothing but computer solitaire. There was no one there. There was always someone in the cafeteria, especially around noon. His snooping instincts kicked in and overrode the hole in his stomach that had brought him here. He left the cafeteria, and moved towards the only place in the bunker he was denied access.

Sure enough, the blue-eyed... he knew what they were called but he still thought of them as monsters... the blue-eyed monster was guarding the door. Not that that was necessary with the obvious sleek casings of the new security systems, but the monster stood there anyway. He nervously addressed it, curiosity overriding distaste and fear. "What's going on?"

The blue-eyed monster barked at him. "Figure it out yourself." It seemed nervous. "It really shouldn't be very hard."

Morian took that as an invitation to leave. Which he did, but he stopped at the four-way intersection. He wanted to figure out what was going on, and the guarded door was visible from there. So Morian waited.

About half an hour later, a slight humming sound was audible, and the lights in the entire bunker dimmed ever so slightly for a second. Ten minutes after that, the blue-eyed monster stepped aside, and the other occupants of the bunker exited the room. All but four, by Morian's count. The green-eyed monster, Haddock, Iris, and the head doctor, a woman known as Silvia Featherstone.

Morian waited. They must be in there. He knew that by process of elimination. Finally, Iris and Silvia exited, wheeling...

Morian gasped in spite of himself. He moved over to the two women. "Is he dead?"

He couldn't keep a tiny hint of relief out of his voice. That was very clearly Haddock's dead body. Just like Skyler's dead body...

Morian blanched. The pieces of the puzzle, which in his case had been long stuck by the rust of narrow-mindedness, were forcing themselves slowly into place.

"Not really. Reborn, maybe."

Those words, delivered in that toneless mechanical voice, were the penultimate nudge to Morian's belated epiphany. He turned, dreading what he might see.

He beheld two green-eyed monsters, one with a lighter shade of green than the other. They looked extremely similar, but not identical. The lankier one grinned widely at him as the other one rumbled.

"He'd taunt you about how long it took you to figure this out, but he might need a few weeks to learn the language first." The speaking monster ducked a very clumsy slap from the other's tail and turned to look at the other monster. "You need much more practice at that. Find a human who could benefit from occasional corrective measures and practice for five years like I did."

Both of the monsters laughed as they left Morian in the four-way intersection. Iris and Silvia had already left, so he was alone.

Alone, and cursing his own stupidity. How had he not seen it before? He had basically had Skyler shove it in his face earlier. But he hadn't believed it was possible. Now he had no choice. Everything fit together perfectly. He abruptly wondered if the surprise he had set up could handle this. That doubt was forced aside. These monsters were still little more than glorified animals. Even with human minds.

Morian was struggling with himself to justify what he had done. This surprise he had set up, it would probably involve the deaths of these monsters. And now he knew they used to be humans. But, his selfish side argued, he couldn't live with these things. He still froze in fear every time one of them came into view. And they had chosen this unnatural change. So he wouldn't feel at all guilty about it. He stuck with that conviction.

* * *

Hiccup laughed. He still couldn't speak, but this entire experience had been great so far. Actually hearing Toothless speak was amazing, especially given he had spent five years listening to the barest fraction humans could hear. He hadn't fully comprehended until now just how much had been missing from the voices of Night Furies when humans listened. There was so much more now, intonation, undertones, implication in every subtle detail.

He also loved having a tail and wings. Even if it would be weeks before he would be taught to use them. Even if he was still clumsy with them. But right now, he really just wanted to hear Toothless talk, and understand it. It would be amazing to have a true conversation, unfiltered by imperfect translation. "This... good." He struggled to remember another word that fit the situation. He settled on "Learn fast."

Toothless rumbled. "Not if you don't pay attention."

Hiccup heard it twice, once vaguely from Toothless's actual voice and once clearly but emotionlessly from the translator. He struggled to commit the words in that sentence to memory and to force his vocal cords to mimic Toothless. "If pay... attention, learn... fast?" He wasn't really asking the question so much as practicing putting the words he knew into play. The translator had picked up three of those correctly but failed on 'attention', which meant Hiccup needed to work on that word.

"Attention. Attention." Toothless also thought Hiccup needed to work with that particular word. But overall, he was beginning to suspect something. The language of Night Furies was apparently quite easy to learn. Hiccup was picking this up far faster than he had English. And Skyler had as well, though she was something of a language expert anyway, so he expected it from her. This gave Toothless hope for the rest of his future students. He would be getting a new Fury to teach every two weeks for the next several months. As soon as Hiccup had been transferred, the next volunteer's new form had been generated and begun growing. As they had three vats, the limiting factor was the transfer apparatus's massive power drain, which took two weeks to safely recharge. It could be done in one... if every bit of power the reactor produced went to the energy storage of the apparatus. But that would involve not breathing in the bunker for a week, as the ventilation system and everything else ran off of the reactor. So, two weeks.

"Attention." That was Hiccup, grinning widely.

Toothless nodded. "Good." The translator had picked it up this time, and he himself thought Hiccup had said it fairly well. The more subtle facets of the language could only be developed from constant use. Skyler was refining her tone and inflection even now, almost a month after her transformation. And in his opinion, her voice sounded better every day.

Hiccup laughed, this time at Toothless. "No, you... pay attention."

Toothless abruptly realized his friend was telling him to pay attention, not just stringing words together. "Right, sorry." He needed to concentrate. He wanted Hiccup at a baseline level of fluency before Iris joined their lessons. There was a bit less than two weeks to do that.

* * *

"What do you want?" Morian was still unnerved by Haddock, more so in this form than before! That really wasn't fair. Haddock had stopped at his table in the cafeteria, just like the first time they had met.

"I want to talk." The monster sat on his hind legs, which made him tower over Morian, dropping a tablet by his feet. "Why you call us monsters?"

Morian had noticed that Haddock seemed a bit less fluent than usual. The other green-eyed monster had said something about 'learning the language'. But when had he referred to them as monsters out loud? He supposed Haddock had heard him muttering at some point, probably with those massive ears. "Why do you care? Am I hurting your feelings?" That was said with all the scorn he could muster.

Haddock rumbled. "I want to know why you... treat us as animals." He seemed to be struggling with his limited means of expression. "You know we're like you."

Morian grimaced. "Right, the massive black reptiles with wings and tails are like me. You aren't human. You're nothing like me."

Haddock tilted his head inquisitively. "But we are in ways that matter. We think, feel like you. Just look different." He laughed. "Transfer wouldn't work if that wasn't true."

Morian didn't want to think about it like that. "But you aren't humans, so you aren't like me. You can't be like me." He gestured at the black reptile in front of him disdainfully. "You are what you look like, and you look like an animal."

Haddock growled. "You look like a weak fool. Not all humans, just you. Are you?"

Morian stuttered. Haddock had caught him in a logical trap. If he agreed he was calling himself weak, and if he disagreed he was contradicting himself.

Haddock laughed, a long guttural sound. "And now you outsmarted by what you call animal. Maybe you should think again."

Morian was silent. He really disliked Haddock, human or dragon in form. "I hate you."

Haddock returned to all fours. "We'll be gone soon enough." He walked away, leaving a suddenly breathless Morian behind.

What did Haddock know? That comment was extremely coincidental if Haddock didn't know about what Morian had done, what he had arranged. But Morian was pretty sure Haddock wouldn't just accept that fate if he knew. He would probably rip Morian apart. So he had to be referring to something else. Was he planning on leaving? Morian wasn't sure what Haddock was thinking, given the random radioactive patches covering parts of the world in invisible death. Even traveling short distances outside was hazardous and could only safely be done very slowly. That was a big reason his surprise would take so long to get here. What was Haddock planning?

"How are you doing?" Toothless, Hiccup, Skyler and Iris were together in the original observation chamber that Toothless had woken up in. It was one of the larger rooms that could fit three Night Furies but still be somewhat private. Hiccup's vocal skills were developing nicely. Which was good, because Iris's transfer was tomorrow.

"Fine, if really nervous." Iris was the only human in the room and was wearing an earpiece. She tugged at it. "It'll be nice to not need this anymore."

Skyler laughed. "Yes, but the tradeoff is you won't be able to speak for a while. You'll learn a lot of body language just to get by. These little nubs on our faces are surprisingly useful." She demonstrated by wiggling all of the nubs, similar to how humans can with effort move their ears slightly.

Toothless stared at Iris. "Don't worry, you'll learn fast."

Iris sighed. "I'm not worried, exactly. Just nervous in general."

"Well, you won't have to be nervous for much longer." Hiccup nudged her with his nose. He had quickly discovered that as a Night Fury, such gestures were often the best way of conveying certain things, even if they would have been really weird as a human. This was the Fury equivalent of a hand on the shoulder, as best he could tell.

"Let's talk about something else." Iris really just wanted to get her mind on something not involving tomorrow.

"Sure. When do you think we can leave?" Toothless huffed impatiently. "I can't wait to eat real fish again."

Iris thought about it. Two weeks per Night Fury, not counting herself because she was going tomorrow, meaning thirteen other transfers, and a few weeks after the last, so that Abdul could adjust... "About seven months."

Toothless drooped. "I had hoped it would be sooner."

Hiccup had figured as much. He had done that math himself, two weeks ago. "Cheer up bud. It'll fly by. Literally. You have seven months to teach fifteen Night Furies how to fly." He was counting himself and Iris.

Toothless stared at him strangely. "Fourteen."

"What?"

Toothless met his eyes seriously. "Fourteen. I don't think you'll need me to teach you. You spent five years flying already. You know more about it than any human ever has. If any human already knows how flying works, it's you."

Skyler purred thoughtfully. "He might be right. Most of the important stuff he just told me how to do, and all the little things were pretty easy to figure out."

Toothless nudged her happily. "But you are a very fast learner." He looked back at Hiccup. "You, on the other hand, have had five years of practice. We'll see what you can do tomorrow, once Iris can come outside with us to watch." He grinned.

* * *

Iris put on the transfer helmet, smiling nervously. It was finally time. She inhaled, counted back from ten...

And slowly opened her eyes. Had it worked? She had been expecting some sort of indication. It would be just her luck that after two flawless transfers, the third would be a dud. She was surprisingly unhappy with the thought. Then she realized her vision seemed almost... wider... than before.

Hiccup watched with elation as Iris woke up. Her eyes were even more vibrant than the simulation had indicated, almost to the point of glowing when the light hit them at the right angle. It was a striking image. He watched as Iris and Silvia went through the checklist of control, from head to tail, and everything in between. And he and Iris both watched as the doctors wheeled her old body away, to be frozen for... why, really? Just in case they ever needed some empty human shells? The odds of that were slim to none. He guessed it was more because destroying or disposing of their bodies felt wrong, as did burying them, given they were still alive, just not there. So, the bodies were frozen. He wondered what Morian thought of that. The man, he noticed with slight distaste, was lurking in the four-way intersection just like last time. And just like last time, he saw the new Fury.

Morian gaped, even though he had been expecting this as soon as he saw that everyone was missing again. But he hadn't expected Iris to be the one. Just how many of these people were insane enough to make this unnatural switch? He saw now that for whatever reason, it apparently took two weeks in between these horrific transformations. The math was easy to do. There would be sixteen, maybe seventeen of these monsters by the time his surprise arrived if this continued.

He blanched. That was not good, especially given he had neglected to mention the single monster that he had known about when he set up his surprise as anything more than a wild animal. He couldn't alert them now; they were slowly working their way here, and the internet's last server had died a week ago. Hopefully, they were well equipped enough to handle this.

* * *

The four Furies stood outside the bunker. Iris was here to watch. She had just transferred a few hours ago. Hiccup was here to see if Toothless's faith in him was well-founded or not.

Hiccup crouched. He tried to remember everything he had ever seen Toothless do in flight. There were a lot of memories to draw on. "Okay, time to find out just how much I really know." He launched himself up into the sky.

Toothless had been about to suggest his friend start with gliding. He stared in a mixture of awe and fear as Hiccup, on his first flight with real wings, faltered but stayed in the air. The awe overpowered his fear as Hiccup visibly figured out all the various subtleties of flight in midair, in minutes. He was literally learning as he went, connecting his many memories of seeing it done to actually doing it himself. In minutes, he was flying better than Skyler had the first few days.

Skyler and Iris stared in unfettered amazement. Skyler, in particular, was almost embarrassed. It had taken her days to reach that point, and she remembered her pride at that accomplishment. Hiccup was still visibly improving. A few minutes later his flight had steadied entirely, and he moved with confidence in the sky.

At that point, Toothless couldn't restrain himself. He launched into the air and flew beside Hiccup. "What did I tell you! And you're doing even better than I expected!"

Hiccup laughed and spun in a basic roll. When he was back in earshot, he responded. "I know! I just remember how you always do any given move, like a turn, and copy it. I've seen everything so many times I can mimic it exactly!"

Toothless barked. "Then try and keep up!" He powered ahead, intent on testing just how far Hiccup's memories and intuition could take him. Looking back he could see Hiccup almost matching his speed. And speeding up. Toothless abruptly dove, a shallow dive angled away from the bunker. In the next few minutes, Toothless pulled out every trick he knew. And while Hiccup didn't have the fine-tuned finesse Toothless possessed, he was able to copy pretty much everything Toothless did, with more or less success.

After a few minutes of that, the two Furies set down in front of Iris and Skyler. Both Hiccup and Toothless were panting.

Skyler had a question. "How do you two expect either of us to ever get that good?" She was feeling intimidated by quite a bit of what the two male Furies had just done. Free-falling, dives, flying upside-down. That last one had given Hiccup the most trouble because Toothless had only very rarely done it in the past.

Toothless purred reassuringly. "Those were things I wouldn't expect anyone to try for a long time." He took in Skyler's embarrassment. "Hiccup has had five years of practice, so of course he's going to be good from the start. Even if I wasn't expecting quite that level of control." He acquired a calculating look. "Skyler, you're still my fastest learner. Hiccup has just had a massive head-start."

Hiccup didn't object. It almost felt like he had cheated. He really did feel like he had been flying for years. He moved to stand by Iris. "Don't worry, you'll learn fast. And probably surpass me at some point."

Toothless barked in laughter. "And I'll still have to teach everyone myself. Hiccup, you can't explain how you did any of that, can you?"

Hiccup thought about it. "Not really, no. I was working off of what I've seen you do. I don't really know how to describe that."

Skyler laughed. "At least I know why we move like we do to fly."

Hiccup grinned. "No argument here."

* * *

"This might be a problem." Abdul was trying to keep his cool. He had no idea where Iris was, not that she could handle this in her current situation. She still knew only a few words well enough for the translator to pick up. She had only been a Night Fury for three days. And she had delegated this part of her responsibilities to him in the meantime. He accepted the responsibility with a deep inhale of breath and accepted the incoming transmission sent directly over the database of the secret projects.

The President's face appeared on the screen. He spoke, seeming a bit frazzled. "This would be team nine?"

Abdul nodded. "I'm filling in for Iris at the moment." He scrambled for an explanation. "She's come down with a somewhat nasty virus. She can't even talk at the moment." That worked. He restrained a grin as he elaborated. "Hiccup and Skyler also caught it, and I suspect one of our doctors, Winston, might start developing symptoms soon. But it shouldn't be too much of an issue."

President Teller spoke. "That's unfortunate. However, this needs to be tried anyway. As you may have guessed, I am in the bunker under the White House in Washington D.C. I am here along with about twelve security agents, along with various White House staff. Basically, anyone who could get here in time."

Abdul smiled. "That's good."

The President groaned in frustration. "It would be. But we can't get out. As far as we can tell, something has jammed the only exit from the outside. The exit door is massive and extremely dense to protect from radiation. And it won't move. Something huge must be pinning it."

Abdul wasn't sure why that was a problem. "With all due respect sir, you shouldn't be trying to leave anyway. It'll be a radioactive wasteland out there."

Teller grimaced. "Not exactly. The nuclear attack that hit us didn't directly hit, it impacted about fifteen miles away. The radiation is strong, but not quite as strong as it would be if we were hit directly. Which is probably why enough rubble exists to block the exit. The shockwave must have just collapsed the White House on top of the bunker. But the real problem is, this bunker wasn't built to be entirely self-sustaining."

Abdul frowned. "Why not?"

Teller seemed almost embarrassed. "It was built a while ago, and the person in charge decided that a fully sustainable reactor was too expensive. So he had a smaller one built. And only a few years supply of fuel for it stored here. He saved a fortune with that. No one after him saw fit to fix that little oversight."

Abdul was once again glad that kind of politician wasn't aware these projects existed. "How long do you have?"

Teller looked down at something offscreen. "About two years, give or take a few days. Is there any way your team could send help?" He seemed aware of the likelihood of that, or rather the lack thereof. "I've checked everyone else. No one can get here in that time, at least not safely. And your team was working on radiation-proofing people, which if you succeeded would mean you could travel here directly, getting here in a few months instead of a few years."

Abdul thought quickly. The President was in luck, potentially. They could get there in a few months, probably. And his location was just outside of the radiation concentration that would be dangerous for them. They could hypothetically get there fairly easily, compared to literally anyone else on earth. But what would the rest of the team think? "Sir, I'll have to consult the rest of the team. I'll leave this link open. We'll come back with an answer shortly."

Teller nodded. "Please, do what you can."

Abdul left the room, and called a general meeting in the cafeteria, the only place such a meeting could be held now, given the bunker's number of Furies. Once everyone was there, including Morian who had wandered in, he explained the President's situation and request.

Hiccup spoke first. "We are capable of helping him. I don't see why not."

Abdul had a response to that. "We'd be traveling somewhat close to still-dangerous levels of radiation, but if we're careful that shouldn't be a problem. Food and water might be a bit trickier, given where Washington D.C. is. We're planning to rely on non-irradiated fish from the ocean for food, and water given that Furies can apparently drink seawater. That won't be an option there."

Hiccup smiled. "I may have a solution to that."

Toothless groaned. "Please don't involve those protein bars."

Skyler laughed. "That's exactly what he's thinking. It's really our only option." She nudged Toothless playfully. "You just can't get away from them, can you?"

Abdul smiled. "Can you figure out a way for an all-Fury group to carry as many of those as possible, in a way that we can access and repack?"

One of the engineers stepped forward. "Hiccup and I can do it. We already designed saddles, this won't be too much more difficult."

Iris couldn't participate, but she was purring her approval of all of this. Hiccup was standing close to her, so he could hear it. "Iris approves." He said that for the benefit of the entire group.

Abdul smiled. "Alright, we've figured out how. I assume when is fairly obvious." He saw everyone nod. "Good. So nothing's really changed, just our first destination." He abruptly realized something. "Well, this should be fun to explain to the President."

There was a scattered sound of mirth from members of the group. This was something they all wanted to see.

Abdul grinned. "Anyone have any suggestions on how to make this as dramatic as possible? We might as well make a good impression."

* * *

Teller sat motionless, still staring at the empty room displayed on the screen. He really had nothing better to do. It had taken the few technologically-inclined occupants here this long to get even this working, and it could only connect to the secret projects, because they had their own secure satellite communications system, one that wasn't connected to anything else. He was trying not to think about his failure to prevent nuclear war. His plan had been a long shot, but it had been their only hope. And it had failed. He tried not to think of how many lives he hadn't been able to save. He was extremely grateful to his predecessors who had set these projects up. Team eight was still on track to colonize Mars. The human populations of the various living spaces created by other teams meant there were thousands of humans safe for the foreseeable future.

He snapped to attention as Abdul reentered the room, smiling widely, and asked the question. "So? Can you help us?"

"You should get everyone in your bunker to see this. It'll be... educational. And yes." Abdul sat there, waiting on the other end of the connection.

Teller wanted to celebrate, but that would be unpresidential. He settled for moving the connection to broadcast from the main screen, and had a security agent gather everyone into the room. "We're all here."

Abdul grinned again. "We will be coming to help. I'm fairly confident we can remove whatever's keeping you in there. I assume you have radiation-suits of a high enough quality to get away from there?"

One of the security agents responded. "Just barely. We plan to move to another, fully sustainable bunker about thirty miles from here. Our suits will last about forty-eight hours, so if we walk through the night, we'll make it in time."

Abdul nodded thoughtfully. "We might be able to speed that part up too." He paused for a moment. "Here's our plan. We cannot, for a reason I will explain in a moment, leave our bunker for about seven months. After that time has passed, we'll head straight for you, hugging the coast, going around the edge of Canada, and crossing Mexico. We should get there in a few months."

The various occupants of the President's bunker were silent for a moment. That was far better than they had even thought possible.

Teller considered their straight path. A path made heedless of radioactive drift. "I assume from that that you've succeeded in making yourselves radiation-proof?"

Abdul laughed for a moment. "Nope. Humans can't be modified to be radiation-proof. Not with current technology, at least. We actually figured that out a while ago. We've gone a different route entirely. There will be seventeen of us coming to your aid. And not a single human among that group." He flipped the feed from himself to one showing the cafeteria.

Teller absorbed the fact that there were now four Furies, where before there was only one. "You found more?" He had no idea how they had managed that.

One of the Furies spoke. He couldn't be sure of which. "No. Toothless was the only Fury ever found."

Teller noticed Morian in the corner, shying away from the Furies. He frowned at that. His friend had always been a bit wary of animals, but these dragons were as intelligent as humans. He wouldn't have thought Morian would be so afraid of them. He saw Abdul enter the room. "Abdul, do you mind explaining all of this?"

Abdul nodded. He addressed the cafeteria. "Those who are going to come on the trip to Washington, step forward. Everyone else, step back." Five scientists stepped back, Morian stumbling backwards in his haste to be counted among them, while Abdul and the rest of the cafeteria stepped forward. Abdul laughed. "And not a single human will be going. The seven months is how long it'll take for the rest of us to follow in the footsteps of Skyler, Hiccup, and Iris." He gestured to the Furies. "Once we all can fly, we'll come to help. Furies are naturally radiation-resistant, among many other physical advantages."

One of the Furies, the one with blue eyes if Teller had to guess, spoke. "And then we'll go find somewhere to live. We were tasked with protecting the future of intelligent life here. In the future, humans and Night Furies will live in harmony. But for now, we'll be content to just live in peace."

Abdul spoke to the stunned occupants of the President's bunker. "We're coming to help. Just sit tight until then sir." He waited for a response.

The President nodded stiffly. "We will eagerly await your arrival." He cut the connection. And turned to the other members of the bunker. "Well, we've got help coming. Whether or not they're human by the time they get here, they've still agreed to help."

One of his security team objected. "You can't be intending to trust those insane scientists. They're turning themselves into monsters!"

Teller laughed. "They aren't monsters. Even the real one, the one born like that. I saw him learn how to play poker and beat the people who taught him. They're just as intelligent as we are. But apparently radiation-resistant and capable of flight. I don't know how they can even consider giving up being human, but they haven't become less by any means."

One of his generals yelled in outrage. "They'll wipe out the human race! Imagine those things attacking refugee camps! We should kill them off once they let us out!"

Teller scowled at him. "You propose we slaughter the people who are coming here to save our lives, as some sort of twisted self-defense? They literally just said they want to live with humans in peace."

Another of his generals spoke, a bit more thoughtfully. "They would be an interesting military asset. Capable of flight on their own power, and able to disregard radiation. I want to know more about their capabilities."

Teller personally thought that the world had seen enough war. But he didn't dissuade one of his few supporters in this. "I'm still the President, and I'm ordering all of you to do nothing except in immediate self-defense." He glared at the first general. "If they don't attack you, you don't even get to unholster your weapons."

The general scowled. "You'll see. What are they called? Night Furies. The word 'fury' is in the name! You're really going to trust monsters named after anger itself?"

The President thought it might not be a good idea to share what the Vikings had apparently nicknamed the species. "Yes. I trust a group of peaceful scientists not to attack the people they just rescued."

That ended the conversation. Teller sighed. It was going to be a long wait. He wondered if he should sharpen his poker skills. He did have a faint idea of playing against that Night Fury when they were rescued if there was an opportunity. Why not?


	14. Chapter 14

It had been a very interesting six and a half months. Abdul reflected on this as he entered the genetics lab. The logistical challenge of running the bunker with fewer and fewer humans around and one (Morian) who no one wanted to deal with had been fun. But they had worked things out. Once the Furies left, it would be far easier for the remaining members of the team, because they would only be providing for themselves. The Furies had helped with what they could, but there was only so much they could do. Even after one of the engineers had built an oversized keyboard and custom mouse capable of being used by Furies. There were things they just couldn't do efficiently. Still, it had all worked out in the end.

And, he reflected as he put the transfer helmet on, it was almost over. He was the last human in line for the transfer, and his future body was already in the half-vat, waiting. He had been given a Fury with light-grey eyes, the only one with that eye color in their group. He smiled at the doctor and geneticist, two of the five team members who weren't taking the opportunity, in answer to the unspoken question. "I've been ready for months."

A few minutes later, Abdul carefully walked out of the genetics lab. It had worked as expected. They hadn't had a single problem with the entire process. The hours of quadruple checking every single possibility in the months prior to the first test had really paid off in that respect. He would greet the other Furies, and begin learning their language soon. But first, he went and retrieved the keyboard and mouse that he could use, and brought it back to the genetics lab. All five of the humans who had declined the process were there. He had them hook the components to the main computer and typed a short phrase as a comment into the command line. 'Are you all sure you will never be able to make this change?'

Each person reaffirmed their decision.

Abdul huffed, as a way of wordlessly expressing resignation. 'Fair enough.' He entered a series of passwords into the main genetics computer, as it ascertained he really did have the authority to wipe it clean. He pushed one last key, and the genetics computer proceeded to destroy thousands of hours of work. Everything they had on Night Fury DNA, and manipulating it. That information was just too dangerous to leave here. It would be nearly impossible for anyone to duplicate what they had done now, especially without a Night Fury to replicate their research. But he wanted to be entirely sure. Those remaining in the bunker would never need the oversized vats. Even in the highly unlikely event that they would need to grow something, the normal vat could do that.

Abdul left in search of Toothless. He eventually found him, and Toothless understood what he wanted, as they had discussed it beforehand.

Toothless entered the genetics lab and spoke to the people inside. "You might want to stand back." He waited as the humans exited the room. Then he did something he hadn't done in almost a year. He fired a plasma blast straight into the central vat. Immediately after that he quickly hit the other two vats, and then the large machine that performed the transfers. His blast did a massive amount of damage to the glass and delicate electronics. What was left could hardly be described as technology anymore. It was more of a big metallic hunk of debris, scorched and covered in the green fluid from the vats. He chuffed. "I wonder who's going to clean this up?"

* * *

Morian heard none of this. He was, as was usual these last few months, hiding in his spare room. He had steadily retreated from the rest of the bunker as the Fury population increased. There were now sixteen, at this point probably seventeen of them, and the bunker was almost crowded now. However, he still had to venture out for food. And when he saw a faint wisp of smoke, his heart leaped with hope. Had they finally arrived?

His heart fell when he realized the smoke was coming from the genetics lab, and not the entrance as he would have assumed. And none of the few visible Furies seemed alarmed. So it had to be something else. Morian followed it and quickly realized that the main genetics lab probably wasn't off-limits anymore. The security system was clearly deactivated, and as he entered he saw why. There was nothing in there worth protecting. He wondered who had built the thermal explosives that had clearly been placed in the four melted hunks of metal that might have been computers.

He also noticed the green fluid unique to vats was pooled in random places. That really wasn't much of a surprise, but it confirmed his theory. Whatever data there was that allowed the creation of these monsters, it was gone now. As was the technology involved in the process of putting human minds inside them. That was extremely convenient. He had hoped to find some way to destroy the research and equipment himself, but now he didn't need to. They had done it for him. These monsters were all there were. And if he had his way, all there ever would be. His surprise was scheduled to arrive any day now if they hadn't been delayed. That was good because he was tired of hiding in his room.

* * *

Toothless laughed happily. These last few months had been something of a dream come true. He was watching several Night Furies teach Abdul the basics of flight. In the sky, several more flew, practicing more advanced techniques. And on the ground next to him was Hiccup, watching it all with him. Skyler was helping teach Abdul, as was Iris. The two had picked up flight quickly, and as it turned out, were fairly good teachers too. He and Hiccup had just returned from another race. He was still the superior flier, but by a razor's edge only. Hiccup was by far the best flier out of the humans-turned-Fury, and probably always would be. He could match Toothless turn for turn with an intuition that meant he reacted faster than thought, and Toothless's only advantage was a slightly higher endurance. That made their races long and draining, but also the most fun Toothless had ever had.

His mood was helped immensely by the fact that after Abdul learned to fly, they could leave the now somewhat crowded bunker behind. Hiccup and the engineer had created pack-saddles that were entirely human-independent. That meant that Furies could put them on, take them off, fill them, empty them, and seal and unseal them without human intervention. That had taken a lot of work, but Hiccup had been insistent that a solo Fury should be able to do it all on their own, for safety reasons. The pack-saddles were made of the same fireproof carbon meshes as the riding saddles. Speaking of which, while every Fury had a pack-saddle to their name, there were about a dozen riding saddles stored among those at random. As Hiccup had said, 'just in case'. As the riding saddles were all extremely light and flexible, they had been folded and took almost no space in the storage of the pack-saddles.

This allowed each Fury to carry more than a week's worth of water and those disgusting protein bars. Those would only be needed as a last resort, given their travel plans involved always being near the ocean.

In terms of other supplies, they were also bringing seventeen tablets, which were solar powered and had extremely reinforced cases, along with a backup battery that would last a few months. They were nearly indestructible and programmed to only do one thing. Translate anything spoken by a Fury into one of any of the hundreds of languages loaded on the tablet, specifiable by voice command. When turned on, of course. Each Fury had one in their pack-saddle, and they would hopefully not be needed very often. They wouldn't last forever, but barring damage they would last several decades at least. More than enough time.

There was also a quite detailed map of the world stitched into the inside flap of each saddle, just as a reference. Even Toothless's despite the fact that he wasn't great with maps.

That was all they were going to take with them. The Furies were wearing their pack-saddles as much as possible, in order to get used to the weight. Fully loaded, they weighed about a hundred pounds. Toothless knew that the maximum weight he could carry was at least four hundred pounds. He knew this because he had once carried Stoick the Vast around for a full day. And he was at least four hundred pounds. One hundred wasn't much of a burden at all.

He turned to Hiccup. "We're almost ready to go." He knew Hiccup would pick up his train of thought.

"Yeah, we are. Everyone can speak, most of the first Furies fluently. Abdul will learn that and flight in a week or so, and then there's nothing holding us here." Hiccup, Iris, Skyler, and Winston had all developed the intonation and natural-sounding delivery of the language by now, though everyone else was still practicing. It made their voices sound entirely natural to Toothless and each other, while those still developing sounded slightly off. It took time to perfect the use of all levels of sound in this kind of speech. Until one did, it sounded like they were speaking in a monotone.

Toothless grunted in agreement. "We could leave now, but we'd have to walk for the first week. Might as well wait." He wanted to get to an ocean and stop eating those terrible protein bars, but walking the first week would be wasted effort.

Skyler ran over from where Abdul had been. Apparently, he had successfully glided about thirty feet. She nuzzled Toothless as she relayed that information.

Hiccup watched in approval. It was something of an open secret now that those two were together. He personally had suspected it for quite a while. They spent so much time together, even after Skyler had learned everything she needed to know. It had become obvious about a month ago. But he was fairly sure they weren't going to do anything about it until the Furies had found a permanent home. Night Fury eggs in the middle of a dangerous journey would be a terrible complication.

He actually, upon reflection, didn't even know what a Night Fury egg looked like. He had for obvious reasons never seen one. Upon further reflection, he wasn't even sure if Night Furies laid eggs, and no one had thought to spend the time combing over the genetic code to check. He had assumed all reptiles did, but Iris had informed him in an unrelated discussion that a few modern reptiles gave live birth, so it was possible. Upon questioning Toothless, they learned that he couldn't remember his first few days of life well enough to confirm or deny any of that. So they really didn't know. He supposed they'd all find out eventually.

Either way, he was happy for his friend. Especially when they had spent almost five years slowly realizing that this exact scenario probably would never happen. If nothing else, he was thankful they had been frozen for that.

That brought back memories Hiccup hadn't considered for a while. He was well and truly over the life he had been forced to leave behind. It had taken a while, but he could remember it all without any regret or pain now, just vague fondness. Even for some of the less happy parts of his life. Distance brought perspective. He would never approve of the way he had been treated, or some of his own actions, but he truly saw now that it had all been necessary for things to turn out the way they did. And, he thought as he looked at the small flock of flying Night Furies and Iris walking over from an excited Abdul, he wouldn't trade this for anything.

* * *

That night, they all squeezed into the cafeteria, seventeen Furies and five humans. No one was surprised Morian didn't attend. He had been something of an unpleasant shadow the last few months, only really present at mealtimes. The five humans who would be remaining here with him had all at some point tried to find common ground with him, but he rebuffed any attempt at friendliness with aloof scorn and ridicule. They simply tolerated him and hoped that he would mellow out over time. It helped that he kept to himself.

Iris looked over the assembled Furies. Abdul had been right about the diversity of eye color. There was one Fury, Sophia, whose eyes were a startling shade of off-white, just a tinge of brown hinted at. Another Fury, Charlie, had cyan eyes that were almost as vivid in intensity as Iris's own vibrant purple eyes. Abdul had pale grey eyes, the only Fury with that color. Toothless and Hiccup were the only green-eyed Furies, and most of the other colors had two or three variations in the group. All in all, they were a very colorful grouping of eyes in a uniform black background.

Iris spoke to the gathering, and a tablet translated for the benefit of the humans and Abdul. "We are almost ready. Once Abdul can fly, we're going to go help the President. And we in all likelihood aren't going to come back here. I want to congratulate everyone here. You all worked for years towards this goal. Everyone was vital to this project's success. From the geneticists to the engineers, to every discipline of science in between, to the man and dragon who survived a thousand years in a block of ice to bring us the last pieces of the puzzle. Even the doctors, who were originally hired as merely a safety precaution, have been vitally important at many points in this project to the point of us certainly failing without them. This is the success of all of us, whether staying or leaving." She paused for a moment. "We brought a sentient species back from extinction, and did far more than our share of ensuring the future of intelligent life on Earth!"

There was a scattering of human clapping, which was almost drowned out by Furies purring in approval, quite a loud noise when the action was performed by that many dragons in an enclosed space.

* * *

Even later that night, Toothless was out above the bunker. He had, in the past months, developed a habit of flying at night. Teaching the basics of flight meant that he spent most days holding himself back, and this was an easy way to let himself loose on his own time. Sometimes Hiccup or Skyler joined him, and Iris had once or twice, but tonight he was alone.

And so, when he spotted slowly moving lights in the distance, he didn't have anyone with him to confirm he wasn't seeing things. So, he flew in for a closer look.

What he saw was something Toothless recognized from the history shows Iris had shown them in their first days here. It was a convoy of jeeps and trucks, complete with armed soldiers on board. There had to be at least a hundred soldiers, and they were heavily armed. But, as Toothless silently and invisibly watched from above, he noticed something. They seemed to lack the discipline that was the staple of what he had seen of every national army for the last few centuries. They argued, cursed, and waved their weapons around. This was enough to identify them as dangerous, in Toothless's mind. It really didn't help that they were heading, slowly but steadily, towards the bunker. Straight towards it.

He winged his way around and flew as fast as he could back into the bunker. The elevator shaft was nowadays always open. They had removed the elevator's roof and left the roofless cab at the bottom of the shaft. So, after closing the blast door, Toothless was able to drop the several hundred feet into the bunker proper in seconds, and open the blast door. He ran to what he recognized as a speaker for the intercom system, and clumsily pushed a claw against the button. He had seen Iris do this several times when she wanted to contact everyone. "We've got trouble! Everyone up!" He shouted this several times, then roared as loud as he could into the speaker, recoiling at the magnified roar that blasted out of every speaker in the bunker. He made his way to Iris's room and ran into quite a few confused and frightened Night Furies, before shoving past them and telling her what he'd seen.

Iris snapped out of her sleep-induced grogginess. "Everyone, prepare to leave! I want you all in the cafeteria ready to go in five minutes!" She turned to Toothless. "How long until they get here?"

Toothless quickly considered how fast they were moving, and the distance. "Maybe half an hour. Twenty minutes before they get close enough to see us leave."

Hiccup, who had made his way through the hectic corridor, winced at that. "We'll never be able to leave before then. The elevator shaft is too narrow for more than one Fury to fly up at a time, and there are seventeen of us. That's already pushing past twenty minutes." It took about a minute for a Fury to fly that height straight up. The elevator wasn't any faster.

Toothless growled. "We need to slow them down."

Hiccup knew what Toothless wanted to do. "Just like old times. We two can do it, we're the most agile, and we know war." He grinned. "Think they'll know the old saying?"

Toothless grinned in return, unsheathing his teeth. "I highly doubt shouting 'Night Fury! Get down!' survived a thousand years of no Night Furies. We'll have to teach them."

Hiccup laughed. "And we'll use Gobber's favorite technique: On the job!"

Iris interrupted their joking. "This is going to be really dangerous. They have guns, and I don't know how well scales deflect bullets. It might only take one lucky shot."

Toothless chuffed sarcastically. "We're used to that. Dragon-root arrows were always one-hit kills, figuratively and sometimes literally speaking."

"They might have night-vision goggles." Iris wasn't sure Toothless understood modern warfare.

Hiccup was quick to reassure her. "It won't matter. We're too fast to be seen or targeted anyway. Night Furies don't rely solely on darkness to fight. Most of our biggest battles were fought in the day." He nudged her towards the cafeteria. "We're going to buy you time, but get everyone out as fast as possible. We'll meet up twenty miles South of here."

Iris sighed in defeat and lowered her head. When she looked up, her eyes were blazing in anger. "You'd better come back. Both of you."

Toothless and Hiccup abruptly returned to total seriousness. Toothless spoke first. "I have something I'll never leave. I'll be back, no matter what." He turned and ran for the exit.

Hiccup considered Iris. He reached a decision, or maybe more of a realization. "And so do I." He was staring directly at her. After a moment, he turned and followed his best friend.

* * *

Iris stared as Hiccup departed. She would process what he had said later. Right now, she needed to be sure there would be a later for both of them. She rushed to grab her pack-saddle and performed the necessary steps to attach it to herself. It was actually a quite ingenious series of subtle straps and buckles, all specifically designed for Furies to use. She was done in seconds and darting through the halls. When she entered the cafeteria, she found all of the other Furies, as well as Morian and the five humans of their team. The Furies were watching Morian and Sammael, one of those still human, argue.

Morian was currently recoiling from some horrific statement. "Why in the world would you accuse me of that?"

Sammael sneered angrily. "Who else would give our location to a group of mercenaries? The rest of us would never bring anyone with guns here, or anyone at all!"

Morian was acutely aware that there were over a dozen 'monsters' watching him. That made him both determined to protest his innocence, and too nervous to put too much thought into it. "It wasn't me!"

Sammael balled up a fist in anger. "You realize you've doomed us all, right? They'll kill anyone who gets in their way. A bunker is extremely valuable now, and they won't want to share."

Morian didn't respond.

"You knew that, didn't you? What did you promise them? A free bunker in exchange for letting you stay here with them, once they had slaughtered the previous occupants?" Sammael finally let loose and knocked Morian to the floor with a very enraged blow. He kept shouting. "I hope you enjoy their company, although I bet it won't be for long. You traded a bunch of very tolerant scientists for a group of armed thugs. It won't take long for them to get tired of you, and they'll have no problem just killing you. I hope they let us live long enough to watch." That was said with more venom than anyone in the room had ever heard from Sammael, who was a generally reserved man.

He turned to the Furies. "You guys need to leave. Thanks to Morian here, we're dead no matter what. The radiation you won't even notice will kill us if we go with you, and we're dead if we stay here."

Iris bowed her head at that. He was right. Even the nearby town was more of a ghost town now. Drifting radioactive particles were deadly, and would be around for months to come. They had the equipment to detect such drifts, but there wasn't any time to get it built and out of the bunker. "Is there anything we can do?"

Sammael, who seemed to be speaking for the others who were still human, nodded grimly. "Get out alive, all of you. That way our work won't be in vain." He turned to the other four. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather go out fighting."

The two women in the group agreed immediately. They had no desire to be held as prisoners, given historical precedent. The other two men weren't far behind.

Sammael turned back to the Furies. "We'll fight back, and before we fall, I'll set the reactor to overload. We'll rid the world of one group of merciless killers, at least." He smiled darkly. "We have a few minutes. We're going to find things to use as weapons."

The group of humans started for the door. Their leader stopped and turned to stare at Morian. "Leave him alive. I'd rather let the mercenaries dispose of him. To prove a point, if you will."

Morian quaked at the deadly glares of fifteen Furies. He fully expected the monsters to tear him apart.

Iris was discovering that dragons couldn't cry. The equivalent was much more dramatic. Something akin to blue flames were jetting out of her nostrils. It didn't hurt, but it was extremely foreign-looking. She wasn't the only one displaying that particular emotion either. These men and women were colleagues, and in many cases, friends, though not close ones. And Morian had doomed them with his... was it revenge? Or just stupidity? "I hope you get what you deserve, Morian." She led the other Furies out of the cafeteria and sent one ahead to begin the ascent flight.

* * *

Morian was alone. He had been terrified beyond comprehension by the few crying Furies, having no idea what those blue flames meant. But now he felt like celebrating. He had survived many months in a bunker with the monsters, and now they would be gone, one way or another. He felt a slight tinge of regret at the looming deaths of the other scientists, but he dismissed it as the result of their own stupidity. They shouldn't fight back. The mercenaries he had contacted so many months ago weren't at all a polite lot, but they were known for their efficiency and their post-nuclear capabilities. They had advertised in certain dark corners of the web as being entirely capable of operations immediately after nuclear war. He had taken them up on that, in exchange for two things. They got the coordinates of the bunker, but they would let him stay there, and they would get rid of any resistance. He hadn't specified what kind of resistance, anticipating at the time only that monster and Haddock as the ones who would even try to fight back.

Morian abruptly remembered what one of them had said.

'We'll overload the reactor'.

He needed to make sure that didn't happen. He scurried off to the only passage to the interior of the reactor and locked himself inside one of the airlocks built into the hallway, immediately barring the door using a thin fire extinguisher found on a nearby wall. Now no one could get to the reactor. He'd wait until the mercenaries had cleared the bunker, and then he'd come out.

* * *

Sammael immediately sent the other four scientists after supplies in the labs. But first, he asked a seemingly strange question. "Is anyone here good with a sword?" No one had had any experience. He, on the other hand, had at least had some experience, albeit only in duels at the Medieval Reenactment fairs of his youth. About six years ago, not that he'd admit it. So, once everyone else went off to find equipment, he made his way to a certain storage room. He spoke aloud as he opened a glass case. "I don't think you'll mind if I borrow this. Not like you can use it anyway."

Sammael returned to the central intersection and quickly instructed his fellow scientists in exactly what these things would be used for, and where to set them up. They smiled darkly as he elaborated. They weren't usually violent people. But they were going to spite their killers by making this as dangerous as possible. No one would take this bunker without paying a price. Maybe, if they were very lucky, they might even succeed in driving the mercenaries off entirely. They weren't expecting to last that long. But that was the goal. In the frantic planning, Sammael and the others forgot to overload the reactor, spending the little time they had on the other side of the bunker. But they wouldn't have been able to anyway, thanks to Morian.

* * *

Iris was the last Fury out of the bunker. As she fled into the night, she looked for the convoy of trucks Toothless had described. They were approaching now, but clearly, they had been stopped for some time. That was all she had time to see before Winston and Silvia pulled her towards the rendezvous point in the distance. She hoped Hiccup and Toothless's success hadn't cost them their lives. Tonight would already have far too high a price. She tried not to cry as she flew away. It would give her position away, and this night didn't need any more bloodshed. What was coming was already too much.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **It's been brought to my attention that the intended scene breaks didn't carry over in the actual publishing of chapters. If sudden transitions or time skips caught anyone by surprise, that's probably why. I've fixed that particular issue.**

 **Also, due to my personal schedule, while chapter 15 will come on time, chapter 16 will be delayed until the 25th, posted most likely right before midnight. However, chapter 17 will be posted on time on the 29th, so it's not too big of a delay.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Anything on the radiation-radar?" Panze stared out into the dark night in aggravation. He hated traveling like this. It might be fairly safe and gave them plenty of warning to avoid drifting clouds of radioactivity. But it was slow. And he hated slow. He threw a lit cigar at the driver. "Answer me."

The driver flinched. "Nope. All around if you look far enough, and some might be right over here in an hour, but nothing in the path right now." He wanted to avoid Panze's cold anger. That anger was something of a dark legend among the mercenary group that called itself Panze's Painkillers. A terrible name, but Panze picked it, so no one argued.

Panze sighed fretfully. He fiddled with his loaded machine gun. "Well, drive faster then. We're almost there if Moron gave us the right coordinates."

Panze knew very well his 'employer' was named Morian, but it was too much of a perfect coincidence to ignore. A moron with a name that was almost perfect. So, he referred to Morian as Moron. It fit a man who gave a group of mercenaries the location of his bunker in exchange for them eliminating the other occupants and sparing him. Panze didn't care how bad Moron's bunker-neighbors had been, no one should be that stupid. Not that he wouldn't take advantage of it. A cushy self-sustaining bunker was worth more than anything these days.

The truck in front of the line of vehicles abruptly stopped. Panze immediately hopped out of his truck and marched over to the lead truck. Carrying a machine gun was enough protection for him. Not that the hundred or so mercenaries in the ten truck convoy hurt. He knocked on the window, which rapidly unrolled. He was about to start shouting, but a look at the driver silenced him. The driver, a large burly man, was literally shaking and pointing a rusty shotgun straight ahead, aimed at some point in front of him.

Panze knew pure fear when he saw it, though generally he was the one inspiring it. He spun and scanned the darkness around him, looking for anything that might have caused it. He saw nothing in the darkness and after a moment laughed. "Whatever you think you saw, I don't care."

The truck driver started to object, but Panze only heard something about green eyes before he interrupted. "I said I don't care. Keep driving." That was about when something made the hair on his arms stand straight up.

He could barely hear something. It seemed to be growing more clear and distinct by the second. What was it? He could hear almost a shrill whine, but it was so distant. As he listened, the whine slowly turned into a shrill piercing sound, and he realized that it was the sound of something approaching at high speed. He instinctively ducked just as one of the trucks exploded.

Panze stared in awe at the destruction. It hadn't been a missile or grenade. He had seen it quite clearly. It had been a bolt of blue fire. Fire that exploded powerfully enough to destroy an entire truck, leaving only a flaming metal frame, bent and mangled. He cursed. That was a dozen men gone in an instant. "Everyone in defensive formation! Watch the skies, and shoot anything that moves!"

At his cry, a motley band of mercenaries poured out of the remaining trucks and set up in defensive positions. They were entirely unregulated, and their weapons were unique to the individual. Anything from pistols to a single sniper rifle. Speaking of which.

"Sniper! You have a night-vision scope. What's out there?" Panze strode over to the sniper, who was slowly scanning the dark skies.

"There doesn't seem to be-" At that moment, the sniper moved his gun so quickly as he followed something through the scope that he almost hit Panze. "What the hell are those?!"

Panze knocked the gun's barrel away from his ear. "Tell me what you saw."

The sniper was still scanning the skies, in fear now instead of concentration. "Two large shapes. They moved way too fast for me to get more than a glimpse. I've never seen anything move that fast that fluidly. If they were fighter planes, we'd hear them. So I have no idea what I just saw." He grimaced. "I think they might have had wings."

A moment later Panze heard something else he had never heard before. It came from opposite sides of the stopped convoy. It was something like a lion's roar, mixed with a high pitched scream and the resulting shriek overlaid with the sound of grinding metal. A horrific, terrifying shriek that defied explanation at an extremely high volume. He blindly fired into the darkness, as did most of his men. There was no response. The darkness hid these things flawlessly.

A few minutes passed. Panze's patience snapped. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" He screamed into the darkness. "SHOW YOURSELVES!" He didn't care who or what he was talking to.

He almost dropped his gun when someone spoke a minute later. It was a toneless, mechanical voice. He quickly saw the seemingly out of place tablet on the ground a few feet into the forest, which seemed to be playing a prerecorded message.

"We are known as the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself. Night Furies. As for where we are? Not here."

Panze had one of his men retrieve the tablet. But it had only been set to play that message. It was a generic tablet and seemed to really only be used as a translating device. It already had a translation setting selected. One of his men replayed the message. Once it had finished in English, the man had it play in its original language. Those within earshot heard only a long and threatening growl.

Panze groaned in frustration. That was no help. That made this whole situation just that much worse. His men were generally superstitious, and this entire encounter seemed perfectly designed to take advantage of that. But as he forced his men back into the trucks to press on, he couldn't help but wonder. Why had these things simply stopped attacking? This whole encounter only delayed his men, and nothing more. The things didn't seem to be around anymore. He had his men press on.

A minute later, he thought he heard a faint bellow, but he dismissed it as nerves. They made it to the squat concrete building without further incident.

Panze joined one of his technologically inclined men at the blast door. They had come prepared, and the door was soon open. It wouldn't do to damage his new home. Panze was going to send most of his men on the eight-month journey back to their old base of operations to recover the rest of their supplies, so he wasn't worried about housing ninety-something mercenaries in here.

The first problem occurred almost immediately. The elevator had been disabled. And by the looks of it... had the roof of the cab removed? "Why would they take the roof off?"

His second in command shrugged. "It doesn't make sense, but they have."

Panze dismissed it. They could rappel down. They had rope. In traditional fashion, he sent his most expendable men first. Oddly, the missing roof did not seem to be part of a trap, and the men made it to the bottom of the elevator shaft without incident. They continued onwards, with instructions to report back in five minutes. Ten minutes later, none of the fifteen men had returned.

Panze snarled in anger. "We'll go down ourselves." He was tired of death and mystery hidden from sight. He would face something he could see and therefore kill. "I thought Moron said this was a bunker full of scientists..."

The tech guy laughed softly, priming his pistols. "They can be dangerous if they have the stomach to. The real question is, how did they know we're here?" He didn't mention the unearthly earlier encounter. He didn't need Panze's anger directed at him.

Panze and his elite force of ten men set down at the bottom of the elevator shaft. The corridor in front of him was large, both in width and height. It was brightly lit, and spotless, curving to block the rest of said corridor from sight. There were clear glass doors set in intervals on either side.

As the men cautiously advanced, Panze could see gardens and machinery in the rooms they passed. These must be rooms used to produce food and oxygen and recycle water. They continued until he could see a four-way intersection… and over a dozen bodies in said intersection. They were the earlier group he had sent. There wasn't a single mark on them.

Panze cursed silently. In a whisper, he replied to the earlier comment from the tech mercenary. "These apparently do." He sent two men to carefully toss flash grenades around the corners, hopefully temporarily blinding anyone lying in ambush. There was no response.

Panze advanced to the intersection and stared at the large contraption that had been out of sight from the corridor.

He didn't recognize the large machine originally built to restart a dragon's heart by shocking the entire body at once. He didn't know that the scientists, with the extra time that had been bought, had brought it out and amped up its output tenfold. All he saw was a massive metal contraption straight from some horror movie, that had apparently killed fifteen of his men without a single shot fired.

"Damn. How long did these guys have to prepare?" This thing certainly didn't look like it had been built last-second. It was clearly custom-designed to do what it did.

The tech guy didn't answer. He had lifted his pistol and was aiming it carefully at something.

Panze looked the direction the pistol was pointing, and he saw something else. Apparently, his men had gone out fighting after all. There were two dead bodies down a few dozen yards into the corridor. One man and one woman, both armed with strange metal rods, attached to batteries on their back with wires. The scientists were wearing leather gloves.

The tech guy cursed. "They're using electricity. Those things could kill you in seconds. They're basically walking electric fences, amped up." He gestured to the gloves on the bodies. "Hence the insulation."

Panze smiled grimly. "But they don't have range. Which means these two died pretty much immediately." He frowned. "They held the attention of my men..." He looked back at the machine. "Long enough for this thing to get them."

He could respect that. Two wimpy scientists ensuring the death of fifteen trained mercenaries was more than a fair trade for the scientists.

He sent his men ahead, having no desire to tangle with one-shot melee weapons personally. He waited until he heard gunshots, and once they had stopped he followed the sound to his men.

He had lost four of his ten elite soldiers, all apparently to those shock rods. But there were two dead scientists, and one dying to a bullet in his chest.

He stepped up to the dying scientist. "How many more of you are there?"

The scientist laughed, fondling a harmless piece of metal. Panze had made sure it wasn't electrified before he got into striking range. It wasn't even sharp. He watched impassively as the scientist coughed up blood.

"Are you the leader here?" The scientist sounded resigned. "I'd like to meet the leader of my killers." He coughed again.

Panze nodded. "That I am. How many of you are there?" He might as well pump this guy for information. He leaned closer to hear the fading voice.

The scientist laughed weakly. "One, including me. That isn't counting Morian. I'd ask you to kill him for me, but..." The scientist abruptly grinned darkly. "You won't get the chance."

Panze had no time to react as the scientist stabbed him in the chest with what appeared to be a collapsible blade that originated from that hunk of metal he now recognized as a hilt. No one moved, as the mercenaries were shocked, the scientist was dying, and Panze had just joined the scientist on that one-way journey.

Panze coughed weakly. "What is this?" He could feel his vision darkening.

The scientist laughed. "A thousand-year-old weapon. A fitting end." He feebly flipped two switches on the hilt.

Panze could only stare as the metal blade in his chest ignited. He also dimly noticed a cloud of green gas rising from the hilt, drifting towards the blade.

The scientist said one final thing before the darkness took them both. "Boom."

* * *

Morian emerged from his hiding place after he heard the faint gunshots end. He made it to the intersection, hands held above his head the entire time, with the intention of greeting the mercenaries he had brought here. As he rounded a corner, he saw a scene out of nightmares. Six dead bodies, six living mercenaries staring in shock, and a mercenary with the end of Haddock's flaming sword in his chest, put there by Sammael, who was clearly dying. Everything was framed by a strange green gas drifting up. He heard very distinctly the last words of Sammael.

"Boom."

And then the green gas was hit by a spark from the lit sword. Morian watched in horror as the gas ignited into a huge cloud of fire. It instantly enveloped the surviving mercenaries. But the close quarters were what doomed Morian. The cloud's expansive blast only had two ways to go, and it exploded outward with immense power because of that. Morian's last moment was spent staring at Haddock's sword being swallowed in the cloud of fire that an instant later expanded to envelop him, along with much of the corridor.

* * *

Panze's second in command stared in disbelief. He had entered the bunker with the rest of the mercenaries when Panze hadn't come back. He definitely hadn't expected every single person in that bunker to be dead. From the five scientists, they had found, to the one who was probably Morian, to all twenty-five mercenaries that had gone in before, to Panze himself. All dead. Some from bullets, some from what appeared to be fire or an explosion, and quite a few from some strange metal device in a corridor.

"Five scientists took out twenty-five armed mercenaries and Panze himself?" Panze was the really strange part. It was common knowledge among the mercenaries that Panze had survived several wars, a few assassination attempts, and two attempted takeovers by mercenaries in his own group. They hadn't thought he could die.

Panze's second was a smart man. He knew there was something strange here. But he didn't care. "Bring the supplies in. We'll draw straws to go back and get the rest tomorrow." It would be quite a while before this particular group of mercenaries was ready to take on a new job. But they had a safe hideout until that distant day. Even if it was paid for in far more blood than they had ever imagined. Adding in the twelve casualties from that unearthly attack, they lost thirty-seven men, including their leader. This bunker had cost them dearly. And Panze's second didn't even know why. All he really knew was that he was now in charge. For all the good that did him at the moment.

* * *

Iris was waiting. And she was worried. Hiccup and Toothless hadn't made it to the rendezvous point yet. Even Abdul had made it by now, and he could barely fly straight he was so inexperienced. She was worried beyond words. She gave a cry of relief when she saw the two silhouettes on the horizon, rapidly approaching. She rushed to meet them, as did Skyler. When they got there, they both saw that Hiccup was hurt, though not too badly. He had apparently taken a bullet to the lower front shoulder. There was something of a bloody gouge where Toothless had removed the bullet. Apparently, the scales there had only been enough to stop it from penetrating very deep. They hadn't stopped it from getting in.

Iris and Skyler quickly moved under Hiccup, carefully taking his flagging weight between them. The four Furies made it back to the meeting site Toothless had arbitrarily assigned earlier. Once they had set Hiccup down, Skyler quickly examined Toothless, who apparently hadn't even been scratched.

Iris got straight to the point. "What happened?"

Hiccup laughed weakly. "A lucky shot, of course. Literally, a shot in the dark that happened to be on target. Won't make that mistake again. We were both standing too close when we roared."

Toothless growled. "But we did it. They were stopped for a good twenty minutes. I assume everyone got out?"

Skyler sighed sadly. "Everyone but the humans who stayed behind. They couldn't leave because of the radiation, so they decided to go down fighting."

Hiccup grimaced. "We should have destroyed all of the trucks, not just one."

Toothless was quick to correct him. "We would have gotten shot. They were expecting that. One was all we could do. And then they got a lucky hit in. We did all we could."

Hiccup nodded absently. "Getting shot hurts. It's a good thing Night Furies heal quickly. This will hopefully be gone before too long."

Toothless took a look at the gouge. "Probably a few days before it heals enough to put pressure on. And you'll have a nice scar."

Silvia walked up to them. "I agree."

Toothless jumped, and then looked around guiltily. "Sorry, we should have sent for you. You are a doctor."

Silvia smiled. "You did well enough. You are a Night Fury expert, and I am a doctor in general. We really should work together in future situations." She left, going back to the huddled mass of other Furies. They were all tired and still nervous. The unexpected exodus from the bunker had removed any sense of safety they might have had.

Iris considered the Furies. She looked at Toothless. "And you are also the expert on traveling as a Night Fury. What do we do now?"

Toothless huffed. "Sleep. No one will come looking for us. Two of us will stand watch just in case."

Hiccup groaned. "There's no way I'm sleeping with this. I'll make one of those two."

Iris quickly volunteered to be the other. She wanted to talk to Hiccup alone, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Skyler laughed. "Sure. When Hiccup falls asleep five minutes in, wake me instead. I've got too much nervous energy as it is." She stared at Toothless. "It's cold out here. How should sleeping arrangements work?"

Toothless chuckled. "I hope you aren't looking for privacy or personal space. For dragons, sleeping in a massive heap is the way to go in cold weather. Strongest and biggest on the bottom, smallest on the top." He said this loud, and the huddled pack of Furies heard him.

They were too tired and scared to question that, and immediately began sorting themselves out. Toothless and Skyler went to join them, and there was soon a massive pile of tangled wings, tails, and heads as the Furies settled down. It wasn't a very tall pile, but it was impossible to tell where one Fury ended and the next began.

Iris couldn't help but laugh as she watched. It looked hilarious. And fairly warm, too. The Furies all almost immediately fell asleep, so it couldn't be at all cold in there.

Hiccup would have laughed, but the pain in his shoulder stopped him. He really didn't think he'd be able to sleep. After a moment he moved over and sat on his hind legs a few yards from the pile and scanned the area carefully, making sure nothing was around. He relaxed slightly as Iris sat beside him. Then he abruptly stiffened again as he remembered what he had said earlier.

Iris spoke first. "I care about you too. And I'm glad to finally know how you feel." She nudged him with her front paw in the good shoulder. "It took you long enough!"

Hiccup laughed awkwardly. "If you'll recall, I had to get over quite a lot first. I think I moved on fairly quickly, all things considered."

Iris drooped ever so slightly after a few moments. "Am I just a replacement for her?" This wasn't something Hiccup had ever implied, but it was a fear she now had. Maybe an irrational one, but still something she had to ask.

Hiccup immediately reared back in shock. "No, not at all! You two couldn't be more different. You are gentle, reserved, and a thinker just like me. Astrid was, well, the best way to describe it was violent, brazen, and a doer. A true Viking. You are in no way a replacement." His voice softened, and he hoped Iris could hear the truth in his words. "I've gotten over losing her." He wasn't sure if the other part of that statement was too much, but he said it anyway. "But I don't think I'd ever get over losing you."

Iris purred. "I guess that makes two Night Fury pairs."

Hiccup laughed softly. "Yes, it does. How many do you think we'll have by the time we find somewhere to settle down?" He realized something. "There's an odd number of us. Someone's going to be left out."

Iris huddled closer to Hiccup. "Not necessarily. They could always find someone when this generation's children grow up. A bit long to wait, but it could be done." She sighed. "But I don't think all of us will end up paired off right away anyway. These things will take time, and you have to add the confusion and complications entirely new bodies contribute."

Hiccup laughed. "Didn't stop us."

Iris nodded. "But we were the ones who really wanted this change from the start anyway. You, me, and Skyler. Skyler especially, but the second you understood what we were trying to do, you volunteered. There was no 'line of duty' or 'lesser of two evils' motivation for you, you just went for it."

Hiccup frowned. "How many of the others were motivated by that kind of thing? It doesn't seem like a very good choice to make on those reasons alone."

Iris purred softly. "None of them. They all wanted this, at least by the time the actual choice came around. Those were just the common motivations anyone normal might have had, given what you knew."

Hiccup laughed. "Like if the President told Morian to do it. Those are the angles he'd use."

Iris growled. "Morian. I hope the mercenaries killed him. He brought them here. There isn't a doubt in my mind about that." She met Hiccup's eyes. "He seemed happy about it, under his usual facade."

Hiccup sighed sadly. "No matter how much time passes, people still do things out of spite, greed, revenge, and fear. That is never going to change. But it will never be a good facet of intelligent life. I think Morian just couldn't accept that we could look like this, and be like him on the inside. He was scared of me when I was a human too, but I think I caused that. I don't regret it, but it was the result of my actions towards him." Hiccup laughed. "And my having a weapon. Morian really didn't like that."

Iris purred. "Did we freeze that with your body?"

Hiccup nodded. "A fitting resting place for it. Maybe someone in the bunker remembered it. I hope they did." He hoped that the scientists they had been forced to leave behind had taken as many of their killers with them as possible. That much still remained of the Viking Hiccup had been. To spit in the face of your killer on the way out. He could respect that.

Iris whined softly. "They died for no good reason. Just Morian's petty revenge."

Hiccup growled. "But they will still be remembered. We're going to be the ones telling this story. And we're going to make sure those five are remembered as the humans who helped make all of this possible, and didn't even benefit from it. They were the most selfless of all of us, for whatever their reasons."

Iris liked that. "We'll tell our children that."

Hiccup felt his face heating up, temporarily overpowering the burning pain in his shoulder. "That won't be for a while, right? We need to be somewhere safe first." He also needed some time to get used to that idea, and all that it implied.

Iris laughed, in an almost embarrassed fashion. "Of course. There's a long road ahead of us before that. But it will happen eventually, right?"

Hiccup nodded after a moment. "Right."

They kept watch far into the night. Hiccup ended up waking two other Furies once Iris fell asleep, and then he pulled Iris into the pile behind him to get some sleep before morning came.

 **Author's Note: Well, that could have gone better. To the readers who thought Hiccup and Toothless would trash the mercenaries… maybe, if circumstances had been different, if Hiccup hadn't gotten shot early on, if they didn't need to stall for time first and foremost, if the other Furies had any idea how to fight, and so on. Also, for my technological friends who hate the very sound of the word 'radiation-radar', keep in mind who called it that. Panze was not one to use the proper name of things, and to him that's all it was.**

 **Next chapter will be delayed until late Sunday night, sadly.**


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning dawned bright and sunny, if cold. The pile of sleeping Furies made quite an odd sight, a black mass randomly deposited on the edge of a grassy plain and small river. As the Furies woke up, they disentangled themselves and spread out a little bit. Slowly, the black pile broke up into scattered black lumps.

Iris and Hiccup, having been on the first watch, were some of the last to get up. Once they were up, Iris took stock of the situation. Everyone had their pack-saddles and all the supplies. They were all there, and probably all hungry.

Toothless seemed to read her mind. "We can fly to the ocean in two hours, give or take. Longer if we match Abdul's speed, so we'll say three hours."

Iris nodded. "No need to break out the protein bars, we can wait. You'll teach us to fish there?"

Toothless chuckled. "I'll have to. Fishing for seventeen Furies by myself would take all day." He examined the spread-out group. "They aren't used to long travel. Or any travel whatsoever. We would be going slow at first even if Abdul could fly as well as everyone else."

Hiccup joined them, having come back from the stream, a convenient source of fresh water. "True, but they'll get used to it pretty quickly. Flying isn't as tiring as running, so we can still cover a fair distance every day." He considered Abdul, who was hesitantly talking to another Fury, using his translator out of necessity. "He'll have to learn by experience. We really should travel as far as we can each day, and after that, he'll be too tired for flying lessons on top of traveling."

Toothless nodded. "Skyler and I can help him with the language then. He needs to be able to speak and understand everything, without the translator." Toothless growled. "If we had another week, this wouldn't be a problem."

Iris looked at the ground. "But we didn't." She had thought of something late last night. "Should we have stayed? Seventeen Night Furies could have destroyed that entire convoy before they even knew what hit them."

Toothless chuffed. "You're forgetting something. I haven't taught any of you how to use your fire. It slipped my mind back at the bunker." He frowned. "I'll have to do that now. You'll need it to fish later."

Iris gave him a blank stare. How did one use fire to go fishing?

Hiccup laughed. "About that… I figured it out months ago. Firing, that is."

Toothless huffed in laughter. "Of course you did."

"But," Hiccup continued sheepishly, "I never tried it in the air, dive-bombing, and something went wrong last night. I couldn't fire."

"Oh." Toothless shrugged his wings. "That takes practice. I thought you just didn't know how to fire at all. Really, I should teach everyone else as soon as possible."

Iris confirmed that Toothless wanted to teach them the basics of firing right now. She raised her voice. "Everyone, listen up. We're going to fly to the ocean in a few minutes, and we'll eat there, so we don't waste our emergency food. But right now, Toothless is going to teach us all something." She stepped back.

Toothless was all business now. "You need to know how to use your fire. Night Furies have two kinds. One is a prolonged jet of flame. We only use that to heat things up. The other is a fast projectile that either explodes on impact or after a certain distance. With practice, you can determine the size, explosive power, and distance of each shot. But there is a limit. The gas we use to fire these replenishes fairly quickly, but about eight shots an hour is the limit." He stepped away, and the other Furies all gathered behind him to watch him demonstrate.

"To fire, you first sheath your teeth. This isn't necessary, but it is a safety precaution. You don't want to blow your own teeth out by accident. Then, you inhale and clench a muscle in your chest. I don't know how to describe that. After a few seconds, release the muscle, and breath out quickly. Don't aim these at each other. They hurt and can be deadly if strong enough. The longer you hold, the bigger the projectile and blast will be."

The assembled Furies shuffled nervously. None of them wanted to try it first.

Toothless huffed in annoyance. "We'll go one by one. Aim at the ground. We don't really have any good targets out here." He slowly and deliberately fired at the ground a few dozen feet away, blasting a large hole in the frozen earth. "Hiccup next."

Hiccup stepped up, grinned, and let loose with a blast of about the same size, hitting near where Toothless had. "Not that hard."

After that, Toothless had the rest of the Furies try. Some of them took a few tries, but they all got it eventually. The ground was soon covered in blast-marks, scattered around Toothless's original blast. Everyone seemed a bit unnerved by the knowledge.

Hiccup wasn't sure why at first. He asked Iris about it.

"We're not fighters. Most of us have never even held a gun. And now we have what feels like a missile launcher built into our bodies. It's going to take some getting used to."

Hiccup shrugged. "That makes sense. My first toy as a baby was a tiny ax. Which my mother promptly took away and replaced with something less sharp and dangerous, but still. I'm used to weapons and warfare. You guys aren't." He laughed. "And hopefully you won't need to be."

Toothless joined the conversation. "They'll adjust. Besides, it's not just a weapon. Our fire helps keep us warm, allows us to hunt and feed ourselves. To break obstacles, if necessary. And, of course, to defend ourselves. But it's just another part of each of us." He abruptly growled, his wings flaring. "They should all get used to fighting. We might not want to, but others always will. I can't teach much while we're using all of our energy to travel, but once we settle down somewhere, everyone will learn."

Iris nodded. "Whether or not we want to. Because you are right."

The group eventually set off into the skies, flying high towards the sea. Abdul was in the center of the loose formation so that it would be noticed if he had trouble or fell behind. For the moment, with the slow pace they were setting, neither seemed to be an issue.

Hiccup and Iris were flying at the back and Skyler and Toothless at the front. In that way, the four most experienced fliers led and kept watch over the others, as the others did for Abdul.

The end result of this was that Hiccup had plenty of time to ask a question that had been nagging at him all day. "Iris, most of the world is totally trashed, right? So where did those mercenaries come from?"

Iris thought about it. "Mostly trashed. Not entirely. There are places isolated enough that no blast reached, and drifting radiation never ended up passing by. The radiation drifts will dissipate to mostly harmless levels in a few months. They were caused by somewhat hybridized SALT nuclear warheads, weapons that trade pure destructive power on impact for massive clouds of radioactive particles that kill through inhalation or just general radiation poisoning, moving with the wind and hugging the land, invisible and fatal. True SALT warheads would end all life on earth because the radioactive clouds wouldn't go away for decades. The actual blast radius from each impact will remain uninhabitable for a long time. Neither is a concern for us, except for the ten-mile radius from each individual impact site."

Hiccup hummed thoughtfully. "Can the drifting clouds be seen and avoided?"

"Yes, though only with special equipment, which is how the mercenaries got here. But they're hard to avoid in vehicles and impossible on foot. They're large, move with the wind, and are as a result quite unpredictable. But it can be done."

"So there are probably still people alive and safe outside bunkers." That was reassuring.

"For now. The clouds are still moving. If they survive until the clouds break down and dissipate, then they should be fine. Assuming they can be self-sustaining." She snorted, flapping a bit harder as they flew. "Civilization in general just got separated into two groups. Those with bunkers, and those outside who survive long enough. The ones with bunkers will in all likelihood die of old age. The ones outside will reproduce, hopefully keeping the species going. But they won't have technology. Not working technology, anyway. The knowledge on what it does and how to use it will die in a few generations, if they last that long."

Hiccup finished the logical progression. "And so, the human race as a whole is going to be... reset, almost, if they survive at all. But with a few differences. They'll have proof something bigger once existed. And a few stories will probably never die."

Iris chuckled. "You forget one thing. They'll also have us."

"Maybe. Or maybe our two species will live separately." Hiccup's voice was speculative. "But I've seen what people do out of fear of the unknown. If we live separately from humans, we will be the unknown."

"That's not ideal. But it won't really be up to us." Iris purred thoughtfully. "It will be up to future generations. We just need to make sure there are future generations to make those choices."

Hiccup laughed. "On that note... where was team eight located again?"

Iris started, falling back slightly. She stared at Hiccup. "What? Why?"

"I know what you meant. But you got me thinking. There's no guarantee any humans will survive the next few months, and we don't know how well any of the bunker projects are faring. Team eight, on the other hand, plans for the descendants of their colonists to come back some day. And if they do..."

"They'll be like humans were before. Intelligent, technologically advanced."

"Exactly." Hiccup grinned. "I think we'd stand a much better chance of coexisting with them."

"You speak as if we'll be there to see it. They won't come back for hundreds of years."

Hiccup frowned. "We might, actually. No one knows how long Night Furies live. If other species are anything to go by, I think it's far longer than humans."

"What makes you say that?"

"A theory I had. There was a dragon, back in my time, called the Deadly Nadder. They were like reptilian birds and threw spines with their tails. Every ten years, they started growing a new horn on their head, which made their ages easy to tell. Most Nadders I saw had fifteen or more. I actually once saw one with five full rows, though that Nadder was ancient by the looks of it. That dragon was five hundred years old. I think the same applies to Furies. These little nubs," he shook his head, making the small flaps on the sides of his face move, "seem to grow one every five years. Toothless has one more now than when I first met him."

Iris pictured an old Fury. "That's really interesting. But we're going to look really silly with twenty or more of these nubs. Where would they all even fit?"

Hiccup squinted, thinking about it. "Maybe we grow smaller ones the older we get? Like descending series of ever smaller protrusions, going down the back of both jawlines."

"Well, we'll find out eventually, I guess." Iris banked, circling around Hiccup as they flew, her wings barely missing him. "We've got all the time in the world."

The group made it to the sea by noon. Everyone set down on the beach, lined up facing the ocean. Toothless circled over the ocean, waiting for a signal.

Hiccup explained from his spot on the beach, speaking loudly so that everyone could hear him. "Toothless is going to show us how to fish. There are two ways." He flapped his left wing, and Toothless began to circle with more intent, actively looking for something. "The first is the quicker and more efficient. He finds a school of fish somewhere, and blasts the water." Hiccup looked over his shoulder, where Toothless was doing just that. "Once the stunned fish float up, he just grabs as many as he can carry, and eats. Repeat until full."

"What's the other way?" A few of the Furies looked a bit nervous at the prospect.

Hiccup growled quietly. "It's far more dangerous. But if you have no fire, or can't afford to be seen or heard, it is possible to dive in, grab a fish, and use your momentum to launch out." He personally had never seen it, and Toothless had apparently only rarely done it in the distant past. "But if you fail to maintain enough speed to get high enough out of the water... you have to swim to shore. Furies aren't the greatest swimmers. We're creatures of the air, not the water." He made eye contact with the more reluctant. "So don't try it unless you have no choice. Reluctance to use your fire doesn't count. You'll get used to it."

With that, the entire group spread out over the ocean, fishing in pairs or threes. Hiccup ignored his growling stomach, joining Toothless in making sure no one fell in or got hurt somehow. Everything went more or less smoothly. Hiccup laughed as a thought occurred to him. "This worked out really well. They're too hungry to think about the fact that they're eating raw fish."

Toothless eyed him. "And you?"

"Come on, you and I both know I've eaten raw fish before. At least these won't be covered in spit." Hiccup had seen that most of the Furies were done, so he glided down and went fishing for himself. It was actually a quite simple process. Find, aim, shoot, grab, eat. He was done in minutes. The taste of raw fish didn't bother him now. Different taste buds meant different taste preferences, apparently.

They flew a few more hours along the coast, but Abdul, in particular, couldn't go much further. He was still learning to fly in general and had none of the control needed for all-day trips. So they set down among some grassy hills not far from the beach. Toothless had assumed they would laze around the rest of the day.

Skyler had other plans. "Everyone, gather around." Once all of the Furies were nearby and listening, she continued. "Abdul needs to learn the language, and one good way to do that is to hear the rest of us talk. So, anyone have anything to say or a question to ask?"

A Fury with vibrant orange eyes, who was known as Zylus, hesitantly spoke up. "Yeah. What does everyone think is the weirdest part of all of this?" He seemed genuinely curious as to what answers he would get.

The responses were quick in coming.

"Walking on all fours!"

"Flying, definitely."

"Drinking seawater!" There was a general murmur of agreement to that. It still tasted the same, but Toothless assured them all that it was entirely fine for dragons to drink saltwater. Unlike with humans, the high salt content didn't cause any problems, which made travel on the coast by far the easiest option for Night Furies.

Hiccup spoke. "Honestly? Being a powerful predator." He took in the stares. "I mean, I'm used to being relatively small and light. Not exactly dangerous without my inventions. But this", he shifted, drawing attention to the sharp claws, strong legs, and general power his current form exuded, "is totally different. Also, having all of my limbs is really great, but weird. I'm used to walking on one good foot and a prosthetic, not four feet."

Iris nodded. "It is odd. For me, it's having a tail. It feels like a third arm sometimes, and other times I forget it exists."

Toothless spoke softly. "Seeing all of you." He purred loudly. "Something I honestly never thought would happen."

Abdul had been following everything as well as could be managed with the tablet translating so he could learn what new words meant. He spoke hesitantly, but carefully. "Being able... to move my ears." He quickly flapped the two long appendages, grinning. "Never could manage... that as human." His speech was steadily improving, though his vocabulary was still limited.

Skyler purred and entwined her tail with Toothless's, who was standing next to her. "Good points, all of you." She seemed entertained. "I have a question. Once we save the President, where should we go? You know, to settle down."

The only Fury with cyan eyes, Jarrel, spoke confidently. "Obviously a coast somewhere. And ideally somewhere not massively irradiated, but somewhat."

"Why somewhat radioactive?" Iris was curious as to why he seemed to consider that a good idea. "What good would that do?"

"It's a natural defense for us. No one can safely get near our home if it's radioactive. A place of complete safety for us, and death for every other living creature in range."

"That would be nice... but you're forgetting something." Skyler laughed, nudging Toothless in amusement as she explained. "We need to eat. And while the drifting radiation isn't going to affect fish, a place of ambient nuclear fallout would. So we'd have to fly far out to even come close to finding food."

Toothless growled in agreement. "Yes. Besides, total isolation isn't good."

Hiccup nodded. "Agreed. I have an idea of where we could go, though. Iris, is group eight close to any coasts?"

Iris shrugged. "I don't actually know where they are. Does anyone here know?"

There was a round of negatives and silence. She continued. "But we can find out from Teller. He has a connection to our systems, and has been there before anyway."

"Good. If they're at all close to a coast, we should set up near them, to act as something of a security force. The odds of them being attacked like we were are small, but if we're going to have to live somewhere anyway, we might as well help out."

No one objected to that. Hiccup's reasoning was sound, and they felt some lingering loyalty to their colleagues. Winston spoke up next. "It's going to be strange, traveling all this way, without seeing anyone. There were billions of people before. Now, there are only tens of thousands, scattered across the same area. Hopefully that many."

The conversation died after that sobering observation. It was a vivid reminder of just how much devastation had occurred while they were safely hidden in a remote bunker. The groups splintered off into small gatherings of three or four Furies, talking or just resting. The flying had worn most of them out.

Toothless pulled Iris aside for a moment. "We need to set up a system of sentries. Two of us at any given time need to be on watch."

Iris shrugged. "What is there to watch for? Wildlife will be scarce, and nothing is big enough to be a threat to us anyway."

"To me, maybe. But most of us aren't fighters, as you said. A pack of wolves can still kill a dragon caught unaware. Besides, the thing no one expects or watches for is usually the most deadly."

"You're right."

Toothless purred. "You make a great leader. One who listens to their subordinates." He laughed. "That is one good thing about all of this. Hiccup and I both dreaded becoming the leaders of our respective tribes. Stoick's death forced it upon Hiccup, and my defeating a Bewilderbeast did the same for me. We were only in charge for a few days, before we were frozen. But I think you're doing better than we ever could. Especially here, in this time." He put a paw to his forehead in mockery of a salute, something he had seen in their recap of the last thousand years. "I happily hand over the title of alpha." He rested his head on top of hers for a moment, before backing away and bowing.

There was something more behind his words and that physical action. Something tangible, something Iris could almost feel. "What did you just do?" It wasn't bad, this feeling. Just... odd.

He shrugged. "I officially submitted to you as my alpha, which basically just means leader. The chief, or whatever the equivalent is in this time. And I was an alpha before, so I guess I kind of handed that title over. I'm not entirely sure what comes with it. Whatever it is, you'll know how to use it. Better than I could, anyway. Besides, two alphas in one pack is cause for trouble. I had the title, and you had the capability. Now you have both." With that, he leaped into the air. His final words were light and happy. "Skyler and I will take the first watch!"

Iris stared as Toothless and Skyler began flying around and through the distant clouds, roughly circling above the area the Furies had claimed for the night. She eyed Hiccup, who was working with Abdul, and the rest of her group, most of whom were idly standing around, talking. Her... what would it be called? A group of wolves was a pack, a group of crows a murder, oddly enough. Fish grouped into schools, and Night Furies...

She walked over to Hiccup. "Hiccup, what's the name for a group of dragons? Or Night Furies in particular, if there is one."

He squinted at her, looking over in her direction. "There definitely isn't one for Furies. As for dragons, a nest or pack, generally. But nest implies a place as much as a group. So pack, maybe. Why?"

She laughed in disbelief. "Toothless just bowed to me as the alpha of our pack. Whatever that means."

Hiccup froze, before looking at her carefully. "Did he? Well, it makes sense. I know neither of us wants the job. As for what it means... Toothless had the respect of the other dragons already. The Bewilderbeasts could control dragons with their will, but Toothless never showed any signs of being capable of that. I don't know if it actually means anything for a group of dragons with human minds." He growled slightly. "But it could come in handy. Toothless did... something, that day, to challenge the Bewilderbeast. I don't think he even knows what it was. There's more to our species than any of us knows." He stepped away from Iris, and then he too bowed. "And I'm going to follow his lead on this."

Iris was mortified. She quickly moved over and nudged Hiccup up. "No, don't do that. I want us to be equals, not to be your alpha or commander!"

Hiccup laughed. "It's not like that. It just means, as far as I could tell back on Berk, that your word is final. Nothing is going to change. It's just an acknowledgment that you make the final call on what we do, and that I support whatever that call is." He grinned. "Like I already do."

"Really, that's all?" Iris was totally relieved.

"Well, it might also mean I swear to only follow you, and not leave the pack for another. But that isn't really an issue, because there aren't any other packs in existence."

Iris laughed, playfully swatting him. "You'd better not leave me."

"I would never." That was said entirely seriously. He turned back to Abdul, who had been watching and listening. "Did you get all of that?"

"Yes. Should I... bow too?" Abdul didn't seem opposed to the idea.

Hiccup shook his head. "Probably not. It only really means something to Toothless, and maybe me. We were around when it actually mattered beyond acknowledging who was our leader. It's another way to cut ties with the past for us. For the rest of you, it wouldn't mean anything. Besides, we all follow Iris anyway."

Abdul nodded. "Agreed." Then he looked speculative. "You said... things none of us... understand? About ourselves?"

"Yes." Hiccup sat down, making eye contact with Abdul and then Skyler, who was still standing there. "That day, his spines began to glow neon blue, and his fire became stronger and lost its shot limit. He was seething with rage, but I've seen him that angry before. The change was new. It went away once he had defeated the Bewilderbeast. I asked him about it a few months ago. He has no idea what happened, and neither do I. But it is apparently something we're capable of. Somehow."

They were silent. Abruptly, Hiccup realized something else. "Hey, wait a minute!"

Iris jumped, startled. "What?"

Hiccup grinned, and extended a paw, claws down to present the hard but not sharp outer edge. "Lean forward."

She did as she was told, watching him curiously. "Why?"

Hiccup didn't respond. Instead, he seemed to be trying to remember something. Eventually, he placed his claw on a certain spot and pressed in. "This was something my mother showed Toothless."

Iris flinched as he pressed what felt like the most knotted muscle she had ever experienced. But one she somehow hadn't noticed until that moment. Her flinch created a series of popping sounds. Wait, popping sounds?

Looking back, she could see that her spines had split apart. Even though Hiccup had stopped pressing on that small, hidden muscle, she could still feel it. Flexing it, she opened and closed her spines. "This is amazing."

Hiccup purred. "It lets us make tighter turns, apparently. More control in flight. But it's only really useful for super advanced tight flying." He looked over at Abdul. "I'll do you once you get to that point. Right now, it would just make things more complicated." Then he turned back to Iris. "Would you mind returning the favor? I can't reach it myself, and apparently, it needs to be stimulated at least once to be used, for some reason."

Iris tentatively did the same for Hiccup. He laughed as his spines split and rejoined repeatedly. "That's so weird. I wonder why we can't do it without someone else helping the first time? It doesn't seem practical."

"Maybe it's so parents can keep up with their kids. Like a coming of age thing, but on a biological level." That was the best Iris could come up with for the admittedly ridiculously unlikely biological oddity.

* * *

The rest of the day and that night passed uneventfully. Iris came up with a sentry rotation, and they put it into effect. So everyone slept safely that night, knowing they were under watch. The next day was one of flight and fishing, ending a few hours after noon, in a fairly dense forest that abutted the coast. The Furies wandered a bit that day, exploring the area as something to do. What followed was an amusing lesson in perspective.

The first Toothless heard of it was a faint roar, far less menacing than anything coming from a Fury. Then he saw a red-eyed Fury running towards him, completely panicking. "What is it?!"

The red-eyed Fury ran past him and didn't stop, heading for an open area where he could easily fly up and out of the forest. "Bear!"

Toothless snorted, seeing A large black bear lumber into sight. "So?"

"What do you..." The red-eyed Fury, whose name Toothless was fairly sure was Xander, stopped and abruptly deflated. "Oh." He eyed the bear, who seemed to be thinking twice about chasing a dragon three times its size now. "Right."

Toothless roared loudly at the large bear and burst out laughing when it ran away. "That was a very brave or stupid bear, to chase a Night Fury. Probably stupid. Bears don't taste very good, but they're edible enough."

Xander rumbled sheepishly, still looking down. "I didn't really think about all of... this. I just saw a dangerous animal and ran."

Toothless decided a bit of a pep talk was in order. "It's understandable. But just remember, that isn't your reaction anymore. It's the animal's now. You are a predator, one at the top of the hierarchy. Act like one." He smiled. "And to drive that point home, I want you to do something."

"What?"

Toothless eyed the direction the bear had run. "Follow it. Chase it around for a while. Just to see it run from you. Think about what exactly it's afraid of. You can't be confident without knowing why you should be. I'll follow you, just to be safe, but I want you to track it."

"I don't know anything about tracking." Xander didn't seem to dislike the idea though.

"You can smell it. It reeks, and that makes this easy." Toothless pointed his head at where the bear had been. "Just try."

He purred happily as Xander picked up the trail and began following the bear. That purr increased in volume as Xander found and subsequently began pursuing it, the overly-confident bear put in its proper place quite thoroughly in the next hour. Xander's lack of familiarity with his body made it an even chase, and a light jog for Toothless.

This little exercise was something Toothless wished he could do with all of the scientists-turned-dragon. Hiccup didn't need the reminder, he knew well enough having spent years with Toothless. But the others needed to understand that whether or not they chose to make use of it, they were predators and intimidating ones at that. Human reactions to danger wouldn't serve them well at all now. But he'd settle for teaching that lesson for each of them when the opportunity presented itself. By the time he and Xander returned to the other Furies, he knew he had one down. Xander definitely understood now. Hopefully, teaching the others would be as easy.

* * *

Iris was dealing with a problem of her own at the time, and entirely missed the encounter with the bear. She was following Trudy, one of the other Furies. Trudy didn't seem to be aware of the dragon trailing her, walking purposefully away from the group and towards the edge of life.

At least, that's what it looked like. The drifting radioactive clouds had passed nearby, killing everything in their path and cutting a massive swath through the greenery of the nearby forest. Such marks and devastation were visible for miles, places where life faded into death.

Trudy stopped at the indistinct edge, unafraid of what would have been a fatal dose of radiation as a human. She seemed to be muttering to herself.

Iris made herself known. "Not the greatest view." She nodded towards the dead trees and lack of grass that characterized the place of otherwise invisible death.

Trudy jumped, and then glared at the radiated swath of land. "No, it is not. I want to try and figure out just how powerful the radiation here is. I might be able to figure out where it came from if…" She trailed off, sighing as a realization apparently struck her. "Forget it."  
"If what?" Iris motioned for Trudy to continue.

"If it mattered." Trudy groaned in frustration. "I'm a scientist, but my work has been done, and I don't even have real thumbs anymore! I can't just turn that part of my brain off and it's frustrating me!"

"How did you handle it in the bunker?"

"By using that keyboard Abdul had built for us. It helped to be able to work on a computer. But now I have no equipment, no way to do anything."

"What do you want to do about it?" Iris wasn't entirely sure how to deal with this, but it was likely Trudy wasn't the only one having to deal with this particular issue. They had worked for years on this project, and now that the novelty of learning how to use their new bodies had finally wore off, the task-oriented mindset most of them had cultivated was a detriment instead of an asset. She suspected the only reason she wasn't feeling the same was that managing a group this size was already a full-time job.

"Give me something to do. Something important." Trudy seemed to be almost begging, her voice desperate. "Something that uses my skills."

Iris thought about it for a few minutes, as they walked the blurred edge of the radiated area. "These places might not be dangerous, but they are depressing."

"They are. Death for miles." Trudy shook her head.

They'd stay away from places like this if at all possible, Iris decided. But what to do with Trudy? She needed a purpose, ideally a scientific one. One that she could fulfil while they traveled, which ruled out environmental studies or similarly location-dependent tasks.

An idea struck Iris. "I have something for you to do. We know a bit about ourselves, but not everything. Investigate our new bodies."

Trudy seemed intrigued. "What don't we know? We've seen the genetic code."

This was a sore spot for Iris, as it was based on a misconception everyone but geneticists made. "Seeing it isn't the same thing as understanding what it makes. We copied it, but we don't know everything it did." That was the same reason they had never been able to create new forms from scratch. Genetics was a developing field, and not being able to define every single piece of DNA made creation impossible. Copying only worked because they didn't have to know what every single tiny change did. Nature had already ensured the final result worked.

"So you want me to figure out…"

"Everything. How strong we are, how strong we can get. How can we control our fire, and how fine-tuned can that get?" Iris was just throwing things out now, but Trudy was visibly brightening as she got the idea.

"That I can do." Trudy grinned. "I'll need others to help with this. One test subject isn't enough."

"Anyone who feels bored can help you. Just don't hurt anyone with your experiments."

The two Furies turned to head back to the group. Iris laughed quietly as Trudy immediately enlisted several Furies, getting them to extend and retract their teeth as she observed carefully. Iris had no idea what Trudy was trying to learn, but her enthusiasm was good.

Skyler stared in confusion at the sight. "What did you say to her?"  
Iris smiled. "She needed something to do." This was a temporary solution, but a good one. Hopefully over time those of them that felt adrift without a concrete goal would relax, and figure out who they were without their now unimportant fields of expertise.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **Well, back from Thanksgiving Break. Amazing amounts of writing done (see Living Vicariously's chapter 26 author's note for details), but none in this universe. I still have a few story concepts floating around, but many other things take precedent at the moment. Aside from that, this story is somewhat open-ended for a reason, so there won't be any direct sequels anyway.**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author's Note:**_ **Geography here will only be accurate to a certain degree. Locations of individual cities and towns are just too much to add in. So while you can trace their path on a world map, don't expect anything more specific than 'crossing over Florida', for example, and definitely don't expect me to be true to every human building they would be passing around/over/near. That's just too much.**

The pack traveled more each day as Abdul became more experienced with the intricacies of flight, especially the little details that allowed them to fly long distances without tiring. And so, as they were limited by his speed, his improving range meant they as a group traveled further and faster each day. Even so, the trip was in no way a short one.

The group became accustomed to the now mutilated terrain of Alaska in the weeks that followed, but eventually they began making their way down the west coast of the continent, traveling along the edge of Canada and into America proper. The weather steadily improved as they went, going from generally freezing to warmer as they traveled. The terrain changed as well.

But those were secondary concerns. As a whole, the trip down had been uneventful. The world was almost silent. In some places there was wildlife, but generally the landscape was mostly devoid of life in the places that had been scourged by radiation, the skies empty. They had yet to run across any signs of human life. So they felt the need to fill that gap as they traveled. As the other Furies became more used to flight, they began breaking off from the clustered formation, spreading out across the sky in small clusters. They always stayed within sight of everyone else, but there was no longer a feeling of safety only all together.

In this time, Toothless and Hiccup eventually made their way to all of the Furies, unlocking the split spines for them. That caused a few moments of awe but soon faded into the normal and became just another new ability that as the weeks passed.

And so, when they happened across an abandoned town, it served as something of a reality check.

Iris set down on the outskirts, looking behind her. All the other Furies landed a bit further back, save Toothless and Hiccup, who were by her side, and Skyler, who was right behind Toothless. Iris sighed.

"This marks the end of total wilderness." They were somewhere in Oregon state, from what she guessed. "We need to fly very high from here on out. Quite a few nuclear bombs hit California, and we need to make sure we don't get too close to any impact sites."

"How close, exactly, is too close?" Hiccup eyed the abandoned buildings.

"Ten miles. We can see further than that from the sky on a clear day. But if you see the ground zero of a nuclear blast, you're probably a bit too close for comfort. Likely not within ten miles, but better safe than sorry."

"Agreed." Toothless was also staring at the buildings. "What happened here?"

Iris realized that they were worried about radiation here. "Not a nuclear blast. You'd see the massive crater. People just... left, I guess. This place must have survived on imports, and exported one thing. Probably something ocean related. Fish, maybe. Whatever it was, it wasn't enough to sustain them."

"So can we have a look around?" Toothless spoke for everyone, though mainly himself and Hiccup. "It can't hurt, right?"

Iris hesitated. "Sure. But," she addressed the entire group, "stay in pairs or groups of three. No one goes off alone. And everyone be back here on the outskirts by sundown." That was a few hours away. "I don't want anything unexpected to happen. This place makes me uneasy." It was likely just the apparently unharmed but still abandoned town that did it. So much proof life once thrived here, yet none remained.

* * *

Once everyone had regrouped for the night, Iris and Hiccup took the first watch. She sat facing the buildings, Hiccup by her side. "So, what did you think? Of the town, I mean."

He warbled sadly. "So much progress. And no one there anymore. It feels wrong. The buildings and machines are worthless without someone to use them." He turned to look at her. "I thought, when I first considered this change of bodies, that I'd miss the ability to so easily build and create. But seeing all of this... inventions are useless if no one benefits from them. Everything I built in the past, it was all made to help someone. Toothless, myself, or the people of the village. And now, we don't need anything I could have made."

"Do you miss it now?"

"No, not at all." Hiccup purred, leaning against her. "We don't need anything, so I feel no desire to create or invent. Necessity is the mother of invention."

Iris purred in response. "It is. I think most of us are figuring that out. All the knowledge we've amassed among us, it was all incredibly useful. But now it's served the purpose we acquired it for. We're figuring out who we are when that defining characteristic is suddenly obsolete." She barked quietly in amusement. "Except Silvia and Winston. They're doctors. That will always be useful."

"So, who are you?" Hiccup seemed interested in her answer.

"A leader, apparently. Everyone follows me, and I don't know why. I just know you all trust me, and I don't want to break that trust."

Hiccup rumbled, still leaning against her. "That's not all you are. There's always more than a position. When I was chief for a few days, I tried to put aside everything else. It didn't work."

"Other than being the leader, I don't really know." Iris was a bit disheartened by that.

"I do." Hiccup was looking back at the city now. "You are a kind, empathetic person. One who would probably be entirely happy with peace, a calm and predictable life."

"Wouldn't anyone?"

Hiccup sighed. "No, not at all. I knew many people who were only happy when they were in conflict or facing the unknown. Not a bad trait for some people to have. But it means they can't settle down. Always chasing that next adventure, the horizon."

"Are you one of them?" Iris wasn't entirely sure.

"I don't think so. I was once. But then I got a taste of war, and of what comes from always finding something new." He chuffed, lowering his head. "I understand the value of stability now. I've had more adventure and survived more than most people ever do. It's time to settle down. I think Toothless feels the same. He was always looking for something in our travels. And he's found it here, now."

Iris huffed, hearing that. "Well, you'll get that wish someday. Right now, we've got one final adventure to finish."

"Not final. Just the last one like this. Living a happy and sedentary life will be an adventure, at least for me. Besides, I've always heard raising children is just as crazy." Hiccup laughed, looking over at Iris. "And I'm looking forward to that too."

She laughed at his self-conscious expression. "Well, try to contain your enthusiasm. We've got to get through all of this first."

"Don't worry, I've got one very embarrassing motivator for controlling myself." Hiccup looked down. "Getting 'the talk' from my father was bad enough. Getting it from Toothless is going to be even more embarrassing. I'll gladly put that off as long as possible."

That made them both laugh, long and loud. Iris couldn't contain the obvious continuation of that line of thought. "You should probably have him make it a group lecture. That way he only has to say it once."

Hiccup fell over, he was laughing so hard. "I can just picture that now. I take it back. Now I'm looking forward to it, just to see the look on his face as he steps in front of all of us with that lecture prepared."

Suddenly, Iris had a thought. "Wait, what makes him qualified to give it? He was the last Night Fury. It's not like he would know."

Hiccup responded seriously. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure he knows, if only because he lived with other dragons for fifteen or so years. They're not exactly as discreet as humans tend to be, from what he's said in passing." And from some fairly embarrassing events on Berk, that first year dragons had moved in. The Vikings had eventually learned that the random 'fights' in the woods that spring were not the kind they should break up. Hiccup had figured it out fairly quickly, but Astrid had convinced him to let the other villagers figure it out for themselves, which had resulted in some of the most embarrassed Vikings Hiccup had ever seen returning from the woods a few minutes after charging in, weapon at the ready. But Iris didn't need to know about that moderately humiliating point in Berkian history.

"A fair point." She settled down, laying next to Hiccup, eyes still alert and focused on their surroundings. "We should make it to the southern edge of California in a few weeks, maybe more if we have to go out of our way too much to avoid the impact sites. Then it's a week or so to cross Mexico. Hopefully, that shouldn't be too much of an issue. We can scavenge for food there before dipping into our supplies." She frowned. "Wait, is there anything Night Furies can't eat?"

Hiccup settled down next to her, considering the question. "Well, Toothless eats any kind of meat easily enough. I've seen him eat bread at least once, so that's probably fine if we ever run across any. But he doesn't ever eat fruit or vegetables. So that's likely not a good idea. I really don't know. We should stick to meat, just to be safe." He shivered for a moment. "Except eels. If you value your sanity and life, never eat an eel. I've seen what it does. The only cure I know of involves quite a few hard to find ingredients."

"Okay, maybe tell everyone else that tomorrow. It seems like important information." Iris shifted slightly. "After we cross Mexico, it'll be a week or so to Florida, which is a peninsula we can cross in a day or two. After that, we'll head up to Washington D.C. and get to the White House. All in all, a month or two to go. And then we'll see."

"And then..." Hiccup trailed off, still staring into the town. "Iris, did you see something move out there, just a second ago?"

Iris squinted. Their sight was much better than a human's at night, but it wasn't even close to perfect visibility. "No, I didn't. What did you see?"

"A little flicker of movement between two buildings. It might just have been a trick of the eyes." Hiccup didn't sound at all convinced of that. "Iris, I assume no one ever proved that trolls exist?" He didn't seem to be entirely joking.

"Yes, we have seen no evidence they exist." Iris was purring, despite the somewhat unsettling situation. "Nowadays, people are more likely to be afraid of aliens than trolls."

"Aliens?"

"Beings from other planets. We're pretty sure there aren't any around in the immediate area, but the superstitious portion of society can't be dissuaded." Iris looked up at the stars. "Logic and science say that they probably do exist, somewhere out there. But none have shown up here. Space travel as it stands is a very time and resource heavy expenditure, so it's possible they just haven't bothered to come out this far."

Hiccup snorted. "If they could even get here, why would it be a problem? They'd be just like us, if not smarter. People are people, no matter what form they take."

"Remember, you're saying that as a dragon that used to be human. You're more progressive than most." Iris did like that way of looking at it though.

They had both been staring at the town this entire time, and there had been no further signs of movement. Hiccup shuddered after a few minutes. "This place gives me the creeps. That was probably all it was."

Iris agreed. But when they turned over the watch to two of the others an hour later, she still told them about it. Better safe than sorry.

* * *

It turned out that the second watch saw the movement as well. But they hadn't felt it wise to leave the group and go looking. So whatever it was, they left it unknown in the abandoned town and flew on. With the news imparted by those who saw it, no one objected to an early start. They had all to one degree or another been unsettled by what was basically an empty shell of civilization. They flew quickly and never looked back.

But such sights were becoming increasingly common. More and more coastal towns and cities appeared on the horizon. They began flying out over the sea in arcs to avoid them because these hadn't just been abandoned. They had been victims to the drifting radioactive clouds. No one wished to see thousands of dead bodies decomposing in the streets. Such flights slowed them down, but the avoiding of such terrible sights was well worth the extra time spent.

A week or so in, one of the Furies, who had been a chemist, had an announcement. He only said one thing to the group. "The half-life of the radioactive isotopes drifting around has come and gone. The clouds are breaking up by now." It was an estimation made imperfect by the nature of radiation and the lack of equipment, but the news was well-received anyway.

That announcement meant that any humans who had survived without protection this long were safe from that particular hazard. Actual radioactive fallout still had to be avoided, but the drifting clouds of death were gone. And so the dilemma they were presented with a few days later was even trickier.

"I think I saw something move." Toothless was a ways forward of the group, Hiccup by his side today, along with Skyler. Iris was discussing something with Abdul, a bit further behind.

"I did too." Skyler squinted, diving a bit lower. "I'm not sure what it was."

"How big was it?" Hiccup hadn't seen anything because he had been busy looking back to make sure no one had strayed.

"Not very." Toothless decided to satisfy his curiosity. "Well, anyone else want to go look? We need to set down soon today anyway." Any sign of life was interesting in such a desolate landscape of rock and small, sparse trees. There wasn't a town for miles around, though there was a road stretching to either horizon.

There was no argument from either of them. The three Furies dove leisurely, circling around as they did to stay on target. In seconds, they pulled up and landed softly, flapping hard to ensure a comfortable landing on the hard, almost red rocks.

"I could have sworn it went over here..." Toothless idly padded over to a tiny crack in the rocks, too small to be considered a cave, at least for a Fury. "Maybe it was a dog or wolf? Are there any of those around here?" He cautiously stood over the crack in the rock, inhaling deeply.

"No, not really." Skyler's knowledge of the native wildlife of what at this point was probably California was nonexistent, but she didn't see anything around for wolves to live off of.

Toothless stiffened, stopping mid-inhale. He spoke slowly. "I think it's a human in here. A small one, if they fit in these rocks." He backed away, rooting around in his pack saddle for something.

Hiccup quickly helped Toothless locate his tablet. Toothless eventually pulled it out and turned it on, setting it on the ground between his feet. "Is anyone in there?" The tablet had begun relaying everything the Furies said into toneless English, fairly loudly at that.

There was a moment's pause. "Yes." The voice was young and terrified.

Skyler took over, gesturing to Hiccup. "You go get everyone to set down a bit away from here." Then she looked at Toothless. "And you stand back. I'll handle this."

They both listened, Hiccup flying off to inform Iris, and Toothless walking a few feet away, and then after a moment of indecision jumped behind a large rock, effectively hiding most of himself from sight, only his head visible peeking over.

Skyler laughed. "Perfect." She looked over at the small crack in the rocks. "Hello in there. What's your name?"

The response was quick in coming. "Kayla."

"And how old are you?" Skyler was trying to get a feel for what kind of person she was talking to.

"Eleven." There was a brief pause. "Who are you?"

"My name is Skyler." Skyler wasn't entirely sure how to go about this next part. "Kayla, why are you hiding?"

"I saw some huge birds in the sky. Like really big."

Skyler refrained from laughing, knowing that the sound would be quite ominous for a child who had no idea what she was. She was surprised that the clearly mechanical voice of the tablet hadn't come up in conversation yet. "You saw us. Me and my friends." She decided to ask the next most important question. "How did you get here, all alone?"

There was a sniffle from the rocks. "My family was driving on the highway, going somewhere. We stopped yesterday, and I went exploring. When I was coming back to the car, there were a bunch of men with bandannas and guns around the car. They all left, going off the road and into the rocks, the men and my family. I tried to follow, but I couldn't keep up. And now I'm lost."

"It's okay. We can help." Skyler wasn't entirely sure what they could do, but they could do something. "You can come out. And don't be scared by how I look. I'm just a person like you."

"Are you a robot? That voice sounds like one. I can't even tell if you're a boy or girl."

"No, I'm just using a machine to talk for me. I can't speak English, even though I can understand it. I'm a girl, just so you know." Skyler took a step to the side so that she wouldn't be immediately visible from the exit of the tiny cave. "Can you come out?"

"Okay." There was a sound of fabric rustling against and in a few cases tearing on rock, and a young girl with blond hair and brown eyes poked her head out of the cave. "Where-" Then she looked over and saw Skyler, who was sitting up and trying to look as non-threatening as possible. She froze in fear.

Skyler nudged the tablet and spoke. "Don't be scared. I just look different."

The girl nodded slowly, still petrified. "Are you going to eat me?" That was whispered in a tone of utter terror.

"No, of course not!" Skyler mentally cursed her inability to project emotion through the emotionless translator. She shook her head decisively. "We don't eat people. That would be terrible."

"What are you?" The girl actually seemed reassured by that.

"Dragons." Skyler couldn't restrain a laugh. "Right now, anyway." She carefully and slowly approached. "Do I really look so scary?" She opened her intentionally toothless mouth and warbled.

"Yes. Well, not really." Kayla had shied back when Skyler approached, but she was slowly gaining confidence. "Why don't you have teeth?" She pointed at Skyler's mouth.

"I do, you just can't see them right now." Skyler looked over the girl's shoulder, where she could see the other Furies landing a few hundred feet away. Everyone was looking in her direction. "Toothless, can you go explain Kayla's situation? We should help if we can. But I'm not sure the best way to go about it."

Kayla looked over her shoulder just in time to see Toothless run off, and to see the fifteen other Furies standing around nearby. "There are so many of you."

"Not really. You can see every living dragon on the planet right now. We are all there are." Skyler purred, surprising Kayla. "And we all want to help, or will once everyone knows what happened to you. Would you like to go meet the others? I promise we don't bite."

Kayla hesitated before nodding. Skyler was once again reminded of how easily children can adapt compared to adults. Although present circumstances meant this particular child had no choice, really.

That got Skyler thinking. "Are you hungry, or thirsty?" They were walking over to the others now. Skyler had picked up the tablet, and set it in her bag, in a position where it could still operate.

"Yes." Kayla looked over at her hopefully.

Skyler started nosing around in her pack. Eventually, she stopped trying. "I need to take this off to get to the water. We can do that when we get over to the others."

She and Kayla stopped a few yards away from the other Furies, who were looking curiously at her. She took off the pack and passed Kayla one of their special containers of water, showing the girl how to open it. Everything they carried has been custom designed for Furies to use. So the water canister was an odd somewhat squat oval, instead of a normal canteen. It was shaped that way for the dragons to drink directly from it, lacking hands to hold and pour water into their mouths.

Kayla figured it out quickly enough. As she drank, Iris approached. "She says they went off-road?"

"Yes." Skyler turned the tablet off for a moment. "And I'm pretty sure they were taken by some sort of post-nuclear group of bandits. Society crumbles, and some people immediately revert to things like that, though I'm surprised these bandits got lucky enough to survive this long. Hopefully, her family is still alive."

Iris growled softly and turned to address everyone else. "We'll need to act quickly if we want that to still be the case. They don't have much reason to keep them alive that I can think of. Mouths to feed, and unwilling prisoners. They won't last long, even if some shred of human decency has kept them alive this long. Anyone have any objections to finding these highway robbers, freeing this girl's family, and probably ridding the world of a group of thugs?"

It might come to that. There could be no mercy when they themselves would receive none.

There was a chorus of agreement and one dissenting voice. It was a female Fury with pale red eyes, whose name was Malinda. "Why are we risking ourselves to help?"

Hiccup spoke first. "It's the right thing to do."

"But not from a long-term perspective," Malinda argued back, "because we're all vital to ensuring our species continues. It's wrong of us to jeopardize that at all."

"So what would you have us do?" Toothless warbled questioningly, looking at her. "We can't just leave her and her family to die."

Malinda looked torn, pawing at the ground. "I agree, but attacking and risking our future isn't smart either."

"But only if we just attack." Hiccup spoke quickly and confidently. "Show me the place we need to attack, tell me how many men there are, and where her family is being kept. I've faced highly intelligent men commanding hundreds of soldiers, leading a group of five dragons and their riders. Now I have seventeen of the most dangerous species on the planet, against a most likely small and unorganized group of thugs. And the greatest element of surprise any commander could ever want. Not only are we not expected, they don't know we exist. It can be done without much risk at all."

Malinda nodded. "You make a good point. I don't want to leave her like this any more than you do. Just please, please be careful with our safety. If we all die, everything we've done was all for nothing."

Hiccup looked offended. "I would anyway, even if it was only our own lives at stake. That's far more than enough motivation for me to be careful."

Skyler turned back to Kayla, who was watching with her eyes wide. She turned the tablet back on. "We're going to help. By finding your family, and freeing them from the people with guns. But we're going to have to move fast." She dug around in her pack saddle again, pulling out a riding saddle from where it had been folded up. "I'll need your help putting this on."

* * *

And so they left, following Kayla's last known direction of the ones she had been following, and fanning out. Kayla was riding Skyler, and Toothless had, by way of his experience carrying heavy loads in the distant past, been selected to do double-duty in regards to the pack saddles. That was one thing Hiccup and the engineers hadn't considered. Toothless had to carry the extra in his claws, and it left him burdened. Luckily, in this day and age there was no possibility of sneak attacks in the air. No one was around to service and operate planes or missiles.

Eventually, night fell. A few minutes later, Iris spotted lights.

They flew in for a closer look. It was a ragged and patchwork compound, consisting of many tents and a few unstable wood structures, along with a solitary green box that Iris had to inform Hiccup and Toothless was the modern-day equivalent of an outhouse. They set down a few miles away, and Toothless dropped Skyler's bag. He and Hiccup went back to scout more carefully, Abdul with them to provide a set of modern-day eyes.

"Okay, let's break it down." Hiccup spoke confidently. He hadn't done this in a while, but planning a dragon strike on a moderately fortified target was something he was very familiar with. "Those tents are weak, but we can't see the interiors. Abdul, where would they keep prisoners?"

"There." Abdul gestured to one of the few wooden shacks near the center of the compound. "It has guards, the walls are actually solid, and the car is nearby." He looked down on an old van. "Although it isn't in great condition, from what I can tell. They might not have gotten much further on their own even without interference. That jeep over there is in much better shape." He gestured towards a jeep parked near the outskirts of the compound, the driver of which was just now getting in.

Toothless hummed thoughtfully. "Where's he going?" The jeep had left the compound, driving along a moderately flat stretch of rock that served almost as a makeshift road most of the way to the highway.

"If we want to send her and her family on their way, they'll need a car..." Abdul growled. "And we might not get another chance this good, with the driver and therefore keys in the same place as the car."

"Okay, let's make the most of that." Hiccup scanned the camp once more. "About twenty men, all armed from what I can see. But most of them are in the tents. Three guarding the wooden building, and one just went inside it. So four total."

Toothless barked happily. "Easy. I think there are five other Furies who are willing and able to fight if need be. I'll get them. What should we do when we get here?"

"Send three to take out the guards as silently as possible. Burn a hole in the roof with your secondary fire. It looks like that won't take long. Drop in, and grab everyone inside. Take them out, and bring them to the others. If you grab the other guard by accident... well, I'll leave that up to you." Hiccup was confident Toothless could pull this off. And if worst came to worst, his friend had more than enough firepower to level the entire compound on his own. The night would protect him from being seen easily enough to be targeted.

"And you?"

"Abdul and I are going to go secure a car." Hiccup nodded at Abdul, and the two of them flew towards the now distant jeep. He looked back and saw Toothless rallying several Furies from the group on the ridge.

"What's the best way to do this? We want it intact."

Abdul rumbled in concentration, the both of them still angling at the jeep. They'd be there in seconds. "How strong are we?"

"Very." Hiccup laughed, hearing the rest of Abdul's idea as the other Fury explained. "That will work. You just be sure to do your part before he gets up the nerve to shoot me."

* * *

"Why the hell am I the one who always gets stuck with night watch?" The driver of the jeep, a weedy man known only to the others as Tom grumbled to himself, having already turned off the two-way radio. He drove along the natural shelf of rock that served as an easy route to the highway. The jeep still jolted constantly from the small rocks in the path, making what might have been a pleasant drive very aggravating. He had to drive at under thirty miles an hour just to ensure his teeth didn't clack every other second from the force.

His complaining was abruptly dropped in favor of screaming when a huge black bulk dropped onto the rock just inside the range of his headlights. He slammed on the brakes, knowing that to veer off of the shelf was a very dangerous mistake. But there was no way he'd stop in time.

* * *

Hiccup landed firmly, bracing himself and leaning shoulder first at the jeep coming towards him. He knew Toothless and by extension, all Night Furies were really strong. Strong enough to throw off a five-ton Monstrous Nightmare. Definitely strong enough to-

The Jeep made contact. He shoved back against the moving bulk, sliding along the road. The full weight and muscle of a Night Fury was no small force, and the Jeep's hood crumpled a bit even with Hiccup intentionally sliding to reduce the force of the impact. The vehicle made it about five feet past the site of the initial impact. Hiccup stepped away from the car. He had just forced it to stop.

Abdul came running up from the side, looking into the window, ready to fire a small plasma blast if necessary. Then he stopped. "Oh." He looked over at Hiccup. "He's unconscious. He must have hit his head in the crash."

"Well, that makes this easy." Hiccup considered the car. "We need to turn it off, right?"

"To conserve gas, yes." Abdul opened the door painstakingly, using his claws to just barely hook under the handle and pull. He dragged the driver out and set the unconscious figure on the road. The keys were almost impossible to grab and turn, but Abdul eventually managed it, shutting the car down. He stuck the keys in his saddlebag. "There. We can leave it here now. But the driver might know how to hotwire cars, so we should put him somewhere far away."

Hiccup grinned, taking the unconscious man in his claws, and taking off. "I think I saw a place."

* * *

Tom woke to a splitting headache and a strong breeze. As he regained his senses, he felt the overwhelming urge to start cursing like a madman. But he settled for voicing the obvious question to the empty and uncaring night.

"How the hell did I end up here?!" He stood on a rock spire of sorts, several hundred feet above the ground. The climb down was doable in the day, but it would take hours. And he was stuck there until morning.

But then he saw something odd in the distant compound. Black shapes were flitting in front of the few lights and landing on the roof of the building they were keeping the prisoners in. He was abruptly grateful he wasn't there. The faint memory of what had stopped his jeep gave him just enough information to know he wanted no part of that.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **It might seem like there are a lot of people left, given our protagonists have already found some. That's a bit misleading. The few humans left anywhere are the ones that have so far survived:**

 **The actual nuclear event**

 **The immediate fallout**

 **The collapse of society afterward**

 **Approximately eight months of drifting clouds of invisible, silent death (the biggest killer out of all of these).**

 **Clearly, surviving all of this involves either incredible amounts of preparation (population with bunkers) or equally incredible luck (everyone else outside, like these bandits). By my estimate, the total human population of the world outside bunkers is less than 0.01% of what it was before at this point, spread across the globe. That might not be so terrible save for the fact that the vast majority of them are not likely to survive simply living in this new world, radiation notwithstanding. The human race is in some pretty serious trouble in the long run...**


	18. Chapter 18

It was dark, clouds partially obscuring the moon. The black shadows flitting across the dilapidated compound were not noticed.

Toothless dropped into the small wooden shack, the roofing under his feet giving in to the all-consuming heat his flame produced, caving with a series of snaps and crackles. He was happy to see that he hadn't landed on anyone. That was something that had not been considered beforehand.

A quick spin provided him with all the information he needed. There were two adult humans tied to chairs near the wall furthest from the door. There were also two guards armed with guns in the room. One of them was right by the captives, and the other by the door. The door was closed, and the room was mostly clear save for the chairs and a table. He wasn't sure what was going on in here, but the things on the table seemed quite out of place and ominous, and the guard by the captives was also brandishing a knife.

He took all of this in during the moment of shocked silence his entrance produced. That moment passed, and the guards began to raise their guns.

Toothless snorted. "Nice try." He was far faster on the draw than either of them. A small plasma blast served to destroy the gun of the one by the door, and he pounced on the other, smashing the loaded rifle under a heavy paw, pinning the guard with the other front paw. His tablet wasn't on, of course, so they heard nothing but a wordless snarl.

The next second consisted of a series of shocked, scared, and in the case of the guards, pained screams. They were all reacting to what he was, and what he had just done. But Toothless was still one step ahead. He reared and spun, dragging the guard he had pinned with his claws, and throwing him at the other. They collided, and both collapsed, hitting the wooden wall with a hollow thud.

Seconds passed. Neither moved. He wasn't sure if they were dead or merely unconscious. Unlike Hiccup, neither scenario really bothered him. His friend and now brother was always trying to get away with not killing anyone, even deadly enemies. Toothless wasn't as willing to take chances. But the part of Hiccup that had rubbed off on him had prevented him from just tearing their throats out. That, and he was trying to set a good example for the others. Aggressive if needed, but not unnecessarily so.

He turned to the two captives. One had apparently fainted from shock, and the other stared with wide eyes, visibly shaking. "Xander! We've got two." He grabbed the chair of one in one paw, and their shoulder in the other. It wouldn't do to drop them by only carrying the chair if the ropes weren't strong enough.

The red-eyed Fury dropped in and quickly copied him, grabbing the other. "Toothless, that was a pretty loud scream a few seconds ago. We need to go."

With that, the Furies launched upwards, one after the other, out of the building through the new hole in the roof they had created.

They were just in time. A second later, gunfire sounded in the compound. But no one could see the black dragons in the night. Toothless would have returned fire and ended their threat to the innocent once and for all, but Malinda's words had driven home one crucial point. He shouldn't risk himself unnecessarily. Firing would reveal his position. And so, the Furies left the compound, soaring back to their distant ridge, carrying their precious cargo.

Which was screaming. And crying. Toothless resisted the urge to shake the one he was carrying in an attempt to shut them up. To be fair, it was probably quite the traumatic experience. Still, the screaming was hurting his ears. The minute flight to the ridge felt like an hour. He carefully set the chair down, quickly retreating to a distance safe for his ears. "Someone please calm them down!"

Skyler was on it, having by some unspoken agreement become the voice of the group when communicating with humans. She set the tablet down deliberately, drawing the attention of the two humans. Or maybe it was Kayla who drew their attention, still on Skyler's back because the ridge was narrow and dangerous if one could not fly.

Skyler spoke calmly, and of course the tablet was as toneless as ever. "Calm down. We just saved you. And your daughter, I assume?" She flicked an ear at Kayla, who laughed.

The woman nodded, seemingly caught between tearful relief and utter terror. The man was no better. They were both fairly nondescript, though Kayla strongly resembled her mother, apparently.

"Good. We, or more accurately these two," Skyler nodded at Hiccup and Abdul, who grinned, "have also acquired a vehicle for you. So you can continue to wherever it is you were going."

Kayla objected to that, surprisingly. "Can't we come with you?"

That made her mother break her silence. "Kayla, don't annoy the... whatever they are!" She struggled against the ropes still tying her to the chair.

Hiccup winced. "Uh, should we cut them loose?" His question was loud enough to be translated.

Skyler shrugged. "It depends. We need to get them down somehow, and I'd rather not carry all three. Getting out more actual saddles is a hassle. So we could just carry them down like that. It might be easiest." She looked up at Kayla, a sad warble emanating from her. "And no, it's not safe. We travel too close to radiation for humans and live off of saltwater and raw fish. We can't support you, and you'd die randomly to radiation we didn't even notice."

"Oh." Kayla looked a bit saddened by that. "So we'll never see you again?"

Skyler laughed. "You never know." She looked at Kayla's parents. "Where were you guys going, anyway?"

The father answered that. "We have relatives in the countryside. They have a farm."

"A good plan. Assuming it hasn't been irradiated, of course. Have you had any recent contact with them?"

The man nodded. "My brother and I are both radio enthusiasts, so yes. They're expecting us."

"Which is more than most of the world has right now. You are very lucky, Kayla." Skyler looked up at the girl on her back. "Maybe someday we'll come and visit."

The mother looked horrified at that idea. She tried to hide it under a pleasant objection. "No, please, don't go to the trouble."

Skyler smiled widely at her. "You don't need to be scared of us. No one does. We want the same thing you do. To find somewhere safe to live. We just happen to be a bit better equipped to do it."

"But you're..."

"Dragons. The only ones on the planet. And we don't want to be monsters. So please, tell people about us, about all of this." Hiccup had said that, stepping forward so that the humans knew he was the one talking. "Tell them that we are intelligent, thinking and feeling people. Not animals. It's the truth." He gestured to Kayla. "She's never going to forget this. And someday we will visit if only to ensure that somewhere out in the world there are humans who think well of us, who aren't scared of us. Please help us in that."

The father smiled. "We will." He overrode the mother's objections. "And thank you."

They ended up flying the two chairs and their occupants down to the jeep before cutting them loose. Kayla was reunited with her parents, and they all laughed when Abdul remembered he still had the keys. Though Kayla had to take them because neither of her parents could work up the nerve to physically take something from a dragon's mouth.

Skyler watched as they drove off, headed to the highway. "Children adapt so fast. She was terrified of me this morning."

Hiccup sighed. "If only the rest of the world could be so understanding."

* * *

But that was too much to wish for, apparently. This encounter with humans ended up being an anomaly in their otherwise desolate trip. They never crossed over another sign of currently living humans. Plenty of signs of the dead, but none living. It was a bit depressing.

But the weeks passed. They flew in a huge arc inland to avoid where Iris estimated was the sight of an actual impact, flying so far out they never even saw it. Eventually, the coast began curving to the East. They had rounded the bottom left corner of America and were fast approaching Mexico.

That brought its own set of problems. One of which not even Toothless quite knew how to deal with.

"It's so hot!" He bounced on the sand out of frustration. "We're fireproof, but not on the inside! And this is just ridiculous!" Toothless was discovering that dragons, with their internal fires, were not meant for ambient heat. The dry sun was baking the world around him, and it was actually bothering him.

He was far from the only one. The other Furies were all uncomfortable. Dragons couldn't sweat, and their black scales were literally scorching hot. Fireproof or not, that was uncomfortable.

iris panted, drinking deeply from the sea. Which still felt wrong, but this heat was more than enough to allow her to ignore any lingering unease. "This is actually dangerous. I don't know if dragons can get heatstroke." She looked longingly at the sea. "Toothless, just how bad at swimming are we?"

Toothless paused. "Pretty bad. But as long as you don't go deeper than your head, it shouldn't be a problem." With those words of caution, he plunged into the ocean, rolling around in the shallows. "I can't believe I didn't think of this."

Everyone immediately followed his lead. Only Toothless's apparently instinctive dread of swimming had held them back. They all looked to him as an example of what was and was not safe, and he had just declared the shallows safe. The immediate area was soon filled with partially submerged black reptiles.

Hiccup took the time to determine for himself just how bad Night Furies were at swimming. He went out to a spot that was just shallow enough for him to breath if he sat on his hind legs and began attempting to swim in tight circles.

Flapping his wings didn't work. That dragged him down like nothing else, no matter how he did it, and was ridiculously tiring anyway. Folding them against his back was no help either. He eventually tried keeping them out, as if gliding. That didn't hurt, but there was no way to gain height like that. Only move forward, and slightly down. Just like gliding in the air.

His body was so strong but so heavy. Though lighter than he would have thought, his four stocky and cylindrical limbs were terrible for paddling. He felt like he should be able to swim, but it just didn't work. Toothless wasn't exaggerating. Night Furies were terrible in the water.

When they reconvened on the dunes, Everyone was wet, fairly cool, and happy. Toothless wasn't satisfied. "I've been thinking about how to beat the heat. We need to travel at night."

There were no serious objections to that. Iris agreed on the spot. They would rest the rest of that day and continue on that night.

* * *

Once they reached a place where the land began curving back out to the South, Iris had them stop for a night on the shore. "Everyone, eat as much and drink as much as you can." She had taken a look at the world map sewn into her pack saddle, and knew where they were. They were about to begin the flight across the continent. No food or water could be guaranteed except for what they carried until they made it to the coast on the other side. They had a week's worth of provisions each. Two, if stretched. More if they could find anything on the ground. Ponds, cattle, anything. So she wasn't too worried. It was still likely the riskiest part of their journey.

* * *

Iris took them on an East-South-East course, to avoid the mistake of accidentally crossing the entirety of America in parallel to the coast by mistake. The week of cutting across Mexico was a hard one. There were no living animals for most of the way, and the occasional cow was just a snack when shared out between seventeen predators of their size. Water, on the other hand, was not too bad of an issue. By the time they made it to the other side, about half of their supplies were gone. All in all, about what Iris had expected. But she still felt anxious, even as she and the others gorged themselves on fish from the Eastern coast of Mexico.

"What's wrong, Iris?" Hiccup could tell she was upset. He had noticed that she tapped her front claws whenever something was on her mind, as a nervous habit.

"Nothing important. I just feel like I might have made the wrong decision, taking us across Mexico then. Maybe we should have followed the Western side for a while, and cut across a narrower spot. I don't know."

Hiccup snorted. "You made the right decision. You know how I know that? We're here. Stop thinking about what you could have done differently. Especially when what you did do worked out fine."

Iris looked out over the moonlit beach, watching the ones who trusted her to keep them safe, to lead them well. The sight of them enjoying the beach and fresh food lifted her doubts a bit. "This time. What happens when I mess up? Everyone is counting on me."

Hiccup nuzzled her, purring. "Nothing will happen. Everyone messes up sometimes. You just carry on. And if I know you, it won't happen anytime soon. Besides, you might mess up if you made every decision on your own. But the rest of us are helping you. You listen to suggestions, questions, concerns. As long as you keep doing that, there's nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure you don't want to lead us?" Iris spoke softly, asking something that was hidden in the back of her mind. "You already know all of this stuff."

Hiccup just purred louder. "Not at all. I've had my share of being in charge, and then some. I'm finding that I prefer helping someone else lead over leading myself. I was always stuck as the leader or the outcast. It's nice to just be one of the group. Not in charge, but not irrelevant either."

"But I don't want to be in charge either."

"No good leader really does." Hiccup laughed. "Eventually, you won't have to be. When we settle down somewhere, I don't think there will be much for you to do with that particular responsibility. Everyone here gets along, oddly enough. I haven't seen two arguments in the last year, barring those involving Morian in the bunker."

"There's a good reason for that. We're all in this together, and we were all selected for, among other things, non-abrasive personalities. No one gets hired to work in a bunker for years if they like stirring up trouble or arguing. It would be unbearable." Iris was grateful for that. It made things so much easier. No power-hungry idiots, no lazy slackers. Everyone had open minds and listened to reason.

"In that case, you won't have much to do until everyone's kids start growing up. No personality selection there." He chuffed. "As it should be, every person unique and totally different. Of course, there'll be a few less easygoing among them. But that's just how life works."

"For a conversation intended to reassure me, this has gone the wrong direction, I think." Iris was laughing softly. "Telling me in the future I'll have to deal with a whole generation of rowdy teenagers and young adults."

"We will. Remember, you've got support." Hiccup gestured to the occupied beach. "And you still seem more confident now. So I'd say I succeeded."

That brought something else to mind. "So, Hiccup. A test of your powers of observation. Last time I asked, there were two Night Fury pairs. How many are there now?"

Hiccup eyed her. "Um..." He looked down at the beach. "Has that number changed?"

She pushed him with a paw, chuckling. "Yes, definitely." She pointed at a Fury carrying in a mouthful of fish for another, who was sprawled on the beach and purring appreciatively. "I'd say Ben and Sarah count by now."

Hiccup looked at the sea-blue eyed Fury, Ben, who dropped a pile of fish at the feet of Sarah, a Fury with yellow eyes. He watched as they settled down and ate together, talking quietly. "Aren't they on the same sentry shift?"

"Yes. You thought it was a coincidence? They asked to be paired together for that a few weeks ago." Iris laughed. "And that's not everyone either. Silvia and Winston seem to have an understanding as well. That was a bit more subtle, but I can see the signs. So four pairs now."

Hiccup rubbed a paw over his eyes. "Yeesh, how did I miss that? We've all been traveling together for months on end."

"In the case of Silvia and Winston, I think it's understandable. They're both fairly reserved. But you must have been blind to miss the other pair."

"Agreed." Hiccup looked out once more. "So that makes eight of seventeen. Someone's still out of luck."

"Yes, sadly. And it's going to be a male because there's one more of them than there are females. So either Xander, Zylus, Jarrel, Charlie, or Abdul."

Hiccup looked at each of the named Furies. "They must suspect, don't they? That one of them is going to have to wait a few decades. And that'll be a bit strange for the parents too. Having one of their friends eyeing their kids for twenty years or so. Not the most comfortable situation."

Iris nodded sadly. "I have a solution, though. Whoever it is will be something of a solo scout. They'll spend weeks, months at a time out, away from wherever we settle. It's not totally necessary in a practical sense, but it will prevent anything uncomfortable if the next generation doesn't really know the unlucky one too well as children. That way he doesn't feel like an uncle to all of them. Just another, rarely seen Fury. Someone they could get to know as an equal when they grow up."

"A good plan. But I still pity whoever that ends up being. It feels wrong to ostracize them for bad luck." Hiccup knew the feeling all too well.

"Agreed. But in this case, it's for their own good." Iris hummed thoughtfully. "It's too bad we ended up like that."

"Well, we couldn't expect everything to go perfectly." That was the last they spoke of that particularly uncomfortable situation that night. But they both watched the five interact with everyone else. Trying to guess who it would be. Who the unlucky one was.

* * *

They journeyed onward, still traveling at night. The weather was still hot, but it was a wet heat instead of dry now. Eventually, they made it to Florida, where after some deliberation Iris decided they would cut across the much skinnier peninsula.

So, that night they set down... in a swamp. Because that's all that was around. No one was at all happy with the accommodations.

Toothless huffed in annoyance. "How are you doing over there?"

Skyler laughed at him. "We're only a few trees away from each other. You can quit the dramatic shouting. I can hear just fine." She shifted, trying to find a comfortable position in her tree. Toothless was perched on top of his, but hers had a nice curve in the trunk she was just able to spread out on without falling. "It's better than the muddy ground, at least."

"I know. But this place is horrible." He picked at the bark under his claws. "No dry land, a lot of water, and even the air is... wet!" He flapped his wings for emphasis. "I think we're meant to live in cold places. This definitely doesn't count."

Skyler smirked. "Then you'll be glad to know we're heading up North again soon. Virginia and above can be cold. Washington D.C. is in that area."

"How far are we from there?" Toothless was eager to get to the end of this particular journey.

"A few weeks, give or take." Skyler did the math in her head. "We'll be there with months to spare."

Toothless abruptly fired a tiny fireball right at Skyler, hitting something behind her. He growled. "Maybe switch trees. That one had a previous occupant." His voice was cold.

Skyler remembered to breathe as she turned and saw a scorched and definitely now dead snake drop from a branch behind her. "Thank you. But next time maybe warn me first!" She eyed his tree. "I think yours has room for two if you don't mind."

"Please." He shifted over, making room for Skyler to land right beside him. They both carefully checked his tree for other life and found none. That day passed slowly, sleep coming in small fragments over the course of the humid and intermittently rainy day.

* * *

"Okay, everyone listen up." Iris paced in front of the group, which was assembled on a beach nearby signs said was located in Virginia. "We need to get to the White House. And it's within fifteen miles of an actual impact site. So we're going to be cutting it a bit close. Five miles isn't a lot of space."

"Why wasn't Washington hit directly?"

"Because where the nuclear missile did land irradiated it, and another major city was also within the range. It did more damage that way. The missile hit to the Northwest of the capital, so we should be fine flying there from here. Just be careful. If we somehow overshot Washington D.C., it might be the death of us."

A few hours later, one of the Furies abruptly spiraled down to land at a small building situated alone by a highway. Everyone circled above, unsure what the Fury, Sarah, was doing. She returned a few minutes later.

"I remembered that highway rest stops have good maps. We just need to follow this road, and we'll fly straight into Washington. According to the map, that's where it goes."

"Good work." Iris spread the message, and they followed the highway from above.

This segment of the trip was in many ways by far the worst. Up until this point, they had avoided getting close to truly irradiated areas. But this time, they couldn't avoid seeing the rising horrors of nuclear radiation as they moved closer and closer to Washington. The cities were the worst because there were so many people. Had been so many people. The dead were everywhere. Radiation poisoning was fatal, and hundreds of thousands had acquired it at the same time. Everyone tried not to look.

Eventually, they made it to a city that many of the Furies recognized from video and pictures. The nation's capital. Just as lifeless and desolate as anywhere else. And more.

"Wait, is that the White House?" Abdul didn't sound at all sure.

"Something isn't right." Toothless took in the massive pile of rubble Abdul had identified as their goal, and the untouched buildings all around it. "This doesn't make sense."

"Unless someone blew it up... on its own, with just normal explosives?" The speaking Fury elaborated. "I mean, not everyone died immediately. And I'm sure there were a bunch of crazies with end-of-the-world bucket lists. No one bothered to protect it."

"You've got to be kidding." Hiccup was immensely dismayed. "We had to come all the way out here... because some modern-day version of the twins decided to have some fun?"

That statement was met with dismayed silence. It felt... wrong.

"Well, time to get to work, I guess." Hiccup eyed the massive pile of rubble. "This might take quite a bit of firepower." Luckily, they had exactly that.


	19. Chapter 19

It was just another day. Teller idly bounced a rubber ball against the metal wall across from him. Another day, and one step closer to the day the reactor would run out of fuel. The day they'd all suffocate.

He had hope, for a while. The scientists from team nine were coming. Who cared what they looked like, help was on the way. But then something had happened in team nine's bunker. He could still remember the jeering but slightly unsettled face of the mercenary who had patched into the secure databases of the other teams from nine's bunker. That conversation had been short and depressing. The mercenary had freely admitted to killing everyone inside the bunker in the process of taking it, and then laughed at Teller, reveling in the fact that there was nothing Teller could do about it.

What was it the mercenary had said? 'We're always looking for room to expand. And I might have a few customers out there wanting a bigger, better bunker of their own, even though they don't really need one anymore. Thanks for going to all the trouble to make these. I'm going to profit off of all of them.' Warning the other teams was fairly useless, though they had of course done so immediately. No one knew when or in what order the mercenaries would strike, and they were likely very well prepared.

But today, he had nothing to do but wait. So when there was a faint thumping sound, he quickly got up to investigate. Everyone had settled into a routine, these last months, and that noise was abnormal. It was faint, but definitely there. He followed it, his heart rising as hope bloomed. It sounded like it was coming from...

The crowd at the massively dense and frustratingly jammed bunker door confirmed his suspicions. He had spent days cursing the idiot who had designed the door to open outward on hydraulics alone, almost as much as the one who had decided a fully self-sustaining bunker here was too expensive.

"Sir, we think-"

Teller cut the general off. "I know very well what that is, don't you?" He was grinning.

One of his generals, the one who had suggested taking out the Furies when they arrived, snorted. His black mustache swayed in the sudden breeze. "Those are explosions."

"So?" The other general shrugged. "They're scientists, it makes sense they'd bring equipment." He smiled. "I think some of the most talented chemists in the world can make a few bombs. And they don't exactly have less destructive options. We know the bunker can take a hit, that's what it was built to do."

Teller looked around. Everyone was here at the doorway. The dozen secret service agents, both of his top generals, and the twenty or so random White House employees who they had brought with them in those last few moments. Everyone they ran into on the way here, really. They were all very lucky the creator of this bunker hadn't skipped out on radiation suits as well as reactor fuel. There were forty, just enough for all of them.

Actually... "Everyone, we need to be ready to go when they break through." He didn't need to elaborate. Planning their exodus to another longer-lasting bunker that happened to be built nearby had been a very open discussion. It was a symbol of hope, that they needed to have a plan for how to get there. Having a plan implied they wouldn't die here.

Most of the civilians rushed off. Teller eyed the mustachioed general, who was speaking quietly to one of the secret service agents. He sighed. "Ken, are you still going on about that?" He looked at the agents. "Men, under no circumstances are you to open fire without provocation. And provocation means a physical attack on one of us. Glares or snarls don't count. Is that understood?"

Teller smiled grimly as the agents saluted him. He stared sternly at the mustachioed general, who was scowling. "You know better."

Ken shrugged. "Protecting you is their job. I was just giving them advice on how best to do it."

"Pre-emptive strikes are not protection in this case. They're provocation."

The other general chimed in sourly. "And a waste of resources. As if that ever stopped you." That statement accompanied by a subtle sneer in Ken's direction.

Ken sneered back. "You just want to use them. You don't care how dangerous they are."

"So?" The other general stepped up to that challenge. "Let's look at it this way. Putting everything else aside, which is better? Killing off the deadly weapons, or having them on your side?"

"Killing off. Because then they can't turn on you." Ken walked away, probably to get his radiation suit. The other general, Clark, followed suit.

Teller sighed, staring after the two men. They had never gotten along, and their consistent struggle for superiority had meant he always had at least two viable options in any situation. One from each of them, a direct option and a subtle one. But this time, he was pretty sure both options were bad ones. Killing their rescuers was wrong. As for recruiting them...

He shook his head. The world had seen enough war. But that didn't mean much. Ken was wrong. But that didn't mean Clark was right. It didn't mean he was wrong though either. The blasting outside continued. Those scientists sure had brought a lot of explosives.

* * *

The explosions had stopped a few minutes ago. Everyone was suited up and ready to go by the door. They all looked ridiculous, but they were ready.

There was a new sound. A faint thumping. That it was audible at all implied it was quite a forceful impact on the other side.

Teller realized something. He slapped the front of the radiation suit. "Who wants to open the door?" He spoke wryly, and several of the people around him started laughing. One of them moved over to the security panel and performed the necessary procedure to get the door open. It involved a lot of frustrated muttering and cursing. They had tried many things in their original attempts to leave, and the door had not come out unscathed. Everything about its controls now screamed 'jury-rigged' to even the untrained eye. Eventually, it swung open slowly, revealing a scene of utter devastation, most of which was immediately around them. The cityscape visible beyond the charred and shattered remains of the White House looked fairly normal.

And of course, there was the Night Fury standing there. Three, actually. Teller assumed the others were around somewhere. "Thank you. But we need to move quickly. It's a long walk-"

The purple-eyed dragon warbled, cutting him off. A mechanical voice translated. "Or a short flight. Which would you prefer? We can take ten on each trip, and a round-trip for us is less than an hour. Plenty of time to spare. We just need someone to show us where this new bunker is."

Teller didn't have time to answer before Ken cut him off, hissing at him in an attempt to not be heard by the Furies. "Don't fall for that! They want to separate us and find out where our new bunker is. That's a terrible deal militarily speaking."

One of the three Furies snorted. "We have good hearing. You can feel free to walk if you're so distrusting. But the offer stands for the rest of you."

Teller looked at them curiously. "You take passengers?"

"No, the saddles are totally just for show." One of them laughed at that. "It's not like they were custom-designed for exactly that." The sarcasm was obvious in the words if nothing else.

Teller considered the idea. "I accept. But anyone who can't handle the idea should probably start walking now. We'll meet up there. Good luck." His display of courage emboldened many of them. Only Ken and about ten civilians ended up leaving in the next minute, carefully and quickly moving through the oddly blasted pathway through the massive amount of wreckage.

Teller watched them go for a moment before turning to Clark. "I take it you'll be joining us?"

"Of course. I wanted to know more about them. This is a perfect opportunity."

"What do you want to know?" One of the Furies had heard him.

Clark jumped slightly, startled by being addressed. "Oh, anything really. How fast you can fly, for how long, combat capabilities." He spoke casually, but his voice hitched slightly, betraying his enthusiasm.

"Very fast, long distances are doable, extremely effective. There you go." The Fury laughed at Clark's crestfallen expression. "No one measured that kind of thing. We had other priorities." Actually, Trudy and a few of the others had measured such statistics as best as could be done while on the move. He didn't think that information needed to be given to this man.

But Clark would not be so easily dissuaded. "You must know more than that."

One of the two green-eyed Furies, the lankier of them, spoke. "Ride with me. I can answer any questions as we go." His tone suggested that it wasn't quite a request. Clark assented quickly.

Teller boarded the other green-eyed Fury, and one of his secret service agents rode on the purple-eyed one.

The dragons set off as slowly as possible. But the humans were all petrified for a few minutes, clinging to the saddles as the three flew in circles, waiting for the other Furies to acquire passengers. About seven of them were staying behind with the pack saddles, so it would be three trips in all.

* * *

Hiccup disliked the man he was carrying. He knew that look, the calculating tone of voice. This general wanted to use them as weapons, or soldiers at best. Which is why he had decided to use this time to set him straight. The tablet was on and working, so this was the perfect opportunity. He flew just far enough away from the others that no one would hear them. "I know what you want."

Clark flinched. "What?"

"You want to use us for combat, for some reason. I know that look. I've seen it far too often."

"Well, what of it?" Clark wished he knew who this Fury had been. "A scientist wouldn't-"

"Agreed. But I am no scientist." Hiccup laughed sadly. "I am, for better or worse, a veteran, by your terms. One who has fought in a war. Several, really. So believe me, I know your type."

"And what would my type be?" Clark was becoming more and more unsettled.

"A strategist. But one who sees the big picture. Which is fine. The problem is, you only see the big picture. You're willing to sacrifice individual pieces to win. And that's all we are to you. New pieces in the game." He growled. "I will not be a pawn for one like you. None of us will." He made an educated guess. "Especially a pawn of someone who's never really fought for himself, always using and commanding others."

Clark almost fell out of the saddle. "How did you-"

"I didn't. But now I do." Hiccup snarled at his passenger, turning to look him in the eye. "I will not let you or anyone sacrifice us in some stupid conflict. Especially in a world people like you just made almost uninhabitable. Get that into your head."

"Some sacrifices are necessary to win!"

"You speak to one who was willing to die in order to save lives." He restrained himself from snarling or growling at the moment. This message needed to be delivered neutrally. "And one who lost literally everyone he ever knew save for one person. I understand sacrifice. There has to be a good reason. You have none. Just some half-baked ambitions, by my guess." He thought of something. "What were your plans? There are no enemies to fight, save for bandits and mercenaries who will turn on each other soon enough."

Clark was silent. He hadn't really had a specific use for these new assets in mind. He just wanted to procure them for future scenarios. But this one, in particular, spoke as if it knew him better than he knew himself. And he had narrowed the speaker's identity down to one of two. It unsettled him more than he cared to admit that he still didn't know which of the two it was. "Which are you? The man frozen, or the dragon?"

"Why does it matter? We're both dragons now anyway. There is no difference between us, save one of past experiences and personality. He would say the same, were he carrying you." Hiccup nodded over at Toothless. "We're both tired of war. Men like you thrive on it. I don't like you."

Clark made a guess. "You must be the dragon. You don't understand human nature. There will always be conflict, and someone needs to be ready."

"It doesn't matter which I _was_. I understand stupidity, short-sightedness, greed, and cruelty. Guess what? I don't care what excuse you give." Hiccup roared, shocking Clark. "We. Will. Not. Fight. For. You. You have no power to command us. So give it up!"

He wasn't expecting to feel a cold piece of metal against the back of his head, right between the ears. He stiffened, forcing himself to fly normally.

"Wrong." Clark sneered, all traces of civility gone, his voice cold. "I have power over you, right here and right now. This is a very strong rifle, armed with quite damaging shells. Easy to conceal, but extremely dangerous. I'm betting you won't survive one shot at point blank range."

"And you won't survive a fall of five thousand feet, idiot." Hiccup subtly tilted a wing slightly, creating a tiny imbalance Clark wouldn't notice. He was angling back towards the others. Because despite the truth of what he had just said, he was scared. Carrying a possibly deadly passenger wasn't at all fun, and Clark was strapped in. He couldn't just throw him off.

"But that doesn't matter. Because we both know I have nothing to lose. And you do. So you can't take the chance." Clark was almost yelling now. "So don't talk to me like you're anything but another soldier to follow my orders. Because right now, that's exactly what's happening. You've just been drafted, my flying friend, like it or not."

"What is wrong with you?" Hiccup spoke carefully. "This accomplishes nothing. And you are risking your life for nothing, by extension." It really didn't make sense.

"I've accomplished everything! Proving once and for all I'm right and Ken is wrong. Getting control of the bunker away from that pacifist Teller! The secret service agents are on my side, they understand. I'll have you land, hand you off, and my men will hold a few of you hostage. The rest of you will follow my orders, or they die."

"And what, exactly, would those orders be?" Hiccup could see that they were getting almost within easy sight range of the other Furies. He sped up ever so slightly. Clark didn't notice.

"Nothing specific. But you'd be another asset for me to use when something came up. A good strategist always adds to his options. And you are powerful weapons, clearly. Ones that can be controlled."

"Others thought the same, and ended up just as wrong." Hiccup snorted, knowing he was within range of Toothless's plasma blasts if his brother noticed what was going on. He needed to get Clark yelling again. "For a strategist, there isn't much strategy present right now. Just stupidity and threats."

Clark rose to the bait, his voice rising as his temper did. "Who are you to insult me! You're just as backward as your dragon friend, apparently. A thousand years behind! Of course, you don't understand the genius of this. Right now, you are the best military asset imaginable. But you won't even make use of that. And you call me stupid!"

Hiccup heard a faint commotion behind him. Someone had noticed. Then he heard the steadily nearing sound of wingbeats "Backward, he says, having just been outwitted by the one he's ranting at."

"What?" Clark only had time for that confused response before being brutally ripped from the saddle, all the safety straps snapping as Toothless pulled as hard as he could. Clark squeezed the trigger in reflex as he was pulled away.

Hiccup felt two different kinds of pain in his ears at that moment. The physical pain of a bullet passing through his right ear, and the less physical pain of a gun going off literally an inch away from his ears.

Toothless felt the latter too, and both Furies crumpled midair, falling like stones through shock. Clark had lost hold of his rifle and had been dropped by Toothless. The general screamed as he fell alongside the two stunned dragons.

Toothless recovered first, pulling up frantically, roaring all the while. The ground was fast approaching. His heart leaped back to where it was supposed to be when Hiccup copied him, even as blood ran like a streamer from his brother's ear. They leveled out just in time, flipping between buildings in a twisted modern-day parody of that first flight so long ago.

Neither of them had bothered to catch Clark. Hiccup because he didn't remember, and Toothless out of spite for the man who he had seen yelling and pointing a gun at Hiccup. Clark didn't deserve to be caught. And so the deceptive general fell, victim to his own blinding arrogance. He had pulled a gun on the only thing keeping him in the air. This really shouldn't have been a surprise, how things played out. But to Clark, it was. His last thought was a bitter change in opinion. Ken had been right. They should have just shot on sight.

* * *

Hiccup dropped onto the flat concrete roof of one of the shorter buildings, all while reeling and dizzy from the sudden blood loss.

Toothless landed next to him, whining loudly. "You're losing too much blood!" The ear was still streaming, a very obvious hole through the middle about halfway up. He stopped for a second, considering the best way to fix this. "Lean forward!"

Hiccup did as he was told. Toothless promptly sheathed his teeth and bit down on the base of the ear, cutting off the blood flow to the wounded extremity with his blunt gums, and in the process putting Hiccup's entire ear inside his mouth, making him want to gag. But this was the best solution he could think of until the wound clotted on its own. It shouldn't take too long. A few minutes.

"Hold still." Hiccup had tried to move away. "This is important! You can't just bleed out from a stupid hole in your ear!" Toothless's voice was muffled, for obvious reasons. "I'm not going to lose you to something that ridiculous! Iris would kill me for letting it happen."

Hiccup nodded slightly, trying not to pull away anymore. "I know. It's just really painful." He slowly slumped, Toothless following him to the concrete. "Why am I always the one getting shot? This is the second time."

Toothless didn't respond to that. He had just remembered something. "Wait, wasn't I carrying someone?" He had honestly forgotten about that.

Hiccup eyed the saddle on Toothless's back. "He's unconscious. Must have fainted at some point." Teller probably hadn't enjoyed this latest part of the flight. "Lucky him. I wish I was unconscious right now. It wouldn't hurt so much then."

Toothless chuckled. "Wish granted." He quickly scratched at the pressure point that existed under the chin of all dragons, including Hiccup. The one that knocked them out for a few minutes. Hiccup was out in an instant, his breathing deepening and evening out as he involuntarily relaxed. "I hope that helps." If nothing else, at least Hiccup wouldn't move around now.

A few seconds later, Iris dropped onto the roof. She stared at them with wide eyes. The secret service agent on her back tried to be unobtrusive but was staring wide-eyed.

Toothless then realized just how weird this looked. Here he was, biting Hiccup's ear for no apparent reason, an unconscious human on his back. All while Hiccup was asleep on some random roof in the middle of an irradiated city and missing his passenger. "I can explain."

Iris chuffed, looking back at the circling crowd of Furies all looking down at them. "Do it fast. And please tell me he's okay." She pointed at Hiccup.

"He is, as long as I keep doing this until the blood clots. Otherwise, he might bleed out." Toothless gestured to the sleeping Fury under his head. "It hurts, so I knocked him out at his request. Teller is also out for some reason."

"Okay, but what the hell happened immediately before that?" Iris had seen Hiccup's predicament at about the same time Toothless had, but the natural dragon was still faster than anyone but Hiccup, and he had easily outpaced her to get there first.

"You know as much as I do." Toothless recalled what had happened to the human Hiccup was carrying. "But whatever it was, it's over now. That idiot is a red mark on the ground. I heard him scream as he fell."

"Good," Iris recalled the moment of terror when they had both realized Hiccup's passenger had a gun to the back of his head. "I would have killed him myself."

Toothless flicked an ear at her. "I don't believe that. You aren't a killer." He purred. "And that is good. It's one of the many things he sees in you, I think." Toothless growled fondly at Hiccup. "He isn't either. Which, while not the most normal trait for a dragon or even Viking, is not a bad thing. Keep that if you can."

Iris stood there for a few minutes, waiting with Toothless. The dragons circling overhead were probably confused, but she knew they'd wait. They had forty-eight hours to make three one-hour trips. The time could be spared.

Eventually, Toothless carefully removed his mouth, staring intently at the hole in Hiccup's ear. A droplet of blood welled up near an edge... and that was all. He drooped in relief. "He will be fine." With that, he shook his head and spit a tiny fireball into the empty air.

Iris watched it fly off into the distance. "Why did you do that?"

"Getting the taste out of my mouth. Salt, blood, and ash are not very appetizing." He swiped a paw over his own chest, coming up with a thin layer of dust and ash from the recent demolition work. "Yeah, can't wait to get back to the ocean. We're supposed to be black, not dark grey."

A minute later, Hiccup stirred. He got to his feet, groaning in pain. "Is my ear still there? It doesn't feel like it."

"Yes, it is. But you've got a nice hole through the middle. I don't know if that will be permanent or not." Iris rumbled consideringly. "Silvia might. But she was one of the ones who stayed with the supplies. So you'll have to wait and see."

"Could be worse, at least I'm getting a scar out of it." Hiccup quipped. With that, he seemed to completely return to the present moment. He thankfully butted heads with Toothless. "I owe you one. Again."

"No one is keeping track." Toothless found it hilarious that Hiccup now used Night Fury gestures so naturally. The first time he had done that particular one to Hiccup, it had knocked the then-human over. How things changed.

The Hiccup walked over to Iris. He didn't say anything, just placing his head on her shoulder.

She could tell he was a bit shaken. "Whatever happened, it's over." She hummed.

He flinched. "No, it isn't." There was a moment of silence, Hiccup shaking his head to clear it. He noticed that while he still had his tablet, apparently it had been jostled into turning off. None of this had been translated for the sole conscious human there with them. Who, as he recalled, was one of those Clark had counted on to support him. "Iris, your passenger may not be safe either." He carefully eyed the man, under the cover of nuzzling Iris's neck. "But I can't see any weapons. I don't know how Clark hid his, so I can't be sure either."

Toothless growled. "I'll watch him. If he pulls anything, I'll blow him to pieces in an instant." With that, they took off, rejoining the other Furies.

The flight, after a brief explanation from Hiccup, was silent and foreboding. Those carrying secret service agents, approximately half of them, flew in front. Each one was trailed by a Fury with a safe passenger, ready in an instant to fire on the agents.

No one explained anything to the humans. But they spoke among themselves where possible, though the Furies all seemed be ignoring them. No one seemed to have seen Clark pulling a gun, but they definitely noticed his absence. An atmosphere of fear reigned among them, which might have been what prevented any of the agents from acting. If they really had been prepared to follow Clark, they clearly had no nerve to act alone. Or maybe their intended loyalty to the President was now uncontested. Either way, there were no further incidents on the way there.

Teller woke up about two minutes away from their destination, groaning as he sat up in the saddle. His face had several red marks from where the powerful acceleration and deceleration of the free-fall and recovery had pressed him against the saddle. "I never want to do that again."

Toothless snorted. "Hiccup didn't whine and complain about a little free-fall when it happened to him. And at least you were tied to the saddle." He knew Teller couldn't hear him, which made such comments purely for the entertainment of Hiccup and any other Furies close enough to catch them.

"Be fair, Toothless. I screamed quite a bit." Hiccup flew close, the only Fury without a passenger now.

A few minutes later, the Furies set down outside what seemed to be just another nondescript office building. Their passengers hurriedly dismounted, most rushing inside.

Teller, however, stayed outside. "What was that?!" He seemed to have been storing his objections for when he could actually get answers. "I didn't sign up for a thrill ride!"

Hiccup turned his tablet on. He knew how to explain. There were many voice commands they had all memorized. And the tablets stored the last half-hour's worth of audio to assist in future translation. "Computer. Replay from memory."

Teller listened in growing confusion to the conversation between Hiccup and Clark.

When they got to the part when Clark explained just what he was doing, Teller scowled. "I've heard enough."

"Good." Hiccup waggled his ear carefully, drawing Teller's attention to it. "He didn't miss by much. Blame him for the unexpected dive."

"I see. And where..."

"We both chose not to catch him." Hiccup warbled softly. "Though I might have if I wasn't trying to not die at the time."

"You would save the one who wanted to use you and pulled a gun on you?"

"I do not kill easily. At all, if it can be helped. I ended up making amends with several of my past enemies. People can change, sometimes at least."

Teller laughed bitterly. "That they can. For better or worse. I guess living in close quarters with Ken and with no distractions was too much for him to handle." He seemed to remember something. "Oh, by the way. What happened at your bunker?"

Iris flinched, eyeing him sadly. "Morian sold us out."

"The mercenaries came for us, and the humans among us couldn't leave, so they died fighting." Toothless growled, clawing at the dirt.

"That's about what I guessed, though Morian..." Teller didn't like that particular bit of news at all. "Why would he do that?"

"The same reason Clark did what he did. Neither of them accepted that we weren't exactly what we looked like. Mindless killers. Despite all the evidence to the contrary." Hiccup growled angrily.

Teller nodded, looking thoughtful under the clear reinforced facemask of the radiation suit. "I see. Those mercenaries are going to be an issue though."

"In what way?" Iris stepped forward.

"Their leader spoke of taking the other bunkers for whatever reason. Bunkers one, two, and three have hundreds of occupants and weapons stored. They'll be fine."

Iris understood. "But there's one, in particular, that's vulnerable. The bunker of group eight. Because they're not done yet."

"Exactly." Teller answered.

"Where is it? We were considering going there anyway, as protection of sorts." Hiccup didn't like the idea of fighting mercenaries, but the same ones from before? He'd be fine with destroying them.

Toothless was hoping only two things at this exact moment. First, that this new destination would be cold, not hot. And second, that there would be a coast nearby. Almost quivering with that mixture of dread and anticipation, he listened as Teller hesitated.

Finally, Teller spoke. "Maine." He rattled off a city name Toothless didn't catch. "A few miles outside of town, actually. It's pretty big, you can't miss it. I mean, they needed room for a launch bay. So they couldn't make it inconspicuous."

Iris purred smugly. "And if I recall correctly, that city is right by the coast. So the bunker is too, by extension."

"Why does that matter?" Teller seemed confused.

"We live off of the ocean. So that's somewhat important." Iris was still quite happy. "And Toothless."

Toothless perked up. "Yes?"

Iris started laughing. "It's pretty far North of here. So no more heatwaves." She knew very well what Toothless had been dreading. Because honestly, she was pretty sure they all had been thinking exactly that.

They all laughed at the sight of Toothless literally collapsing in relief.

"Well, it looks like you have your next assignment." Teller spoke absent-mindedly, not really thinking about the implications of his words.

"No." Hiccup spoke decisively, facing Teller squarely. "Our last assignment was the mission you gave everyone. The one that led to all of," he gestured to himself, "this. Everything past that was of our own free will. We chose to come help you, and we are choosing to go settle down near team eight, and to protect them."

"What's the difference?"

"We do not follow your orders." Hiccup was adamant about that.

"I am still the President."

"Of a ruined nation. A nation of humans." Iris was speaking now. "And I don't think you deserve that title if you plan to just live out your life in a bunker instead of trying to help rebuild."

"What else can I do?" Teller seemed to be taking that question seriously. "I want to do more, but it's not like I can leave. It would take weeks to get far enough away to survive taking this suit off..." He glanced at them. "Or hours."

Ken was immensely shocked by the news Teller brought him, from the back of one of the dragons. "What do you mean you're not going to the bunker?!"

"I can't just hide for the rest of my life! And this is a chance to get out of the irradiated area. The civilians are going to stay in the bunker, but all the secret service agents volunteered to follow me."

"And Clark, I assume." Ken scowled, knowing that his rival would never let him forget the tactical advantage of these things.

Teller frowned. "Clark suffered the results of his arrogance. Don't make the same mistake."

"I told you these things would-"

"If anything, he killed himself." Teller hadn't seen it, but he knew what had happened. "By trying to take his own ride hostage."

Ken still didn't like that, though he felt just a bit smug. "I told you. They're killers." He fingered the hidden rifle he had stowed in a clever pouch on his leg. It made walking a bit annoying, having a rifle wrapped in a makeshift cover of radiation-proof material secured to his leg, but an almost unnoticeable weapon was a safety precaution worth a little annoyance. "And I didn't like Clark, but..." He eyed the bright cyan-eyed Fury Teller was currently on top of. He reached for his weapon slowly.

He froze. The echoed songs of threat and danger in the form of growls and snarls came from all around him. There were way too many of these things to fight because the rest had all apparently landed silently around him as he talked.

Teller glared at him. "Disobeying direct orders, I see. Well, consider yourself a civilian now. You're fired. And before you draw that gun, I feel a little demonstration might be in order." He looked down. "If you wouldn't mind?"

The Fury he was on chuckled and proceeded to blast a massive hole in a nearby building, grinning smugly as the squat one-story storefront crumbled.

Teller laughed at Ken's awestruck expression. It was a dark laugh. "You'd pretty much cease to exist if you managed to pull that gun out." With that, he waved mockingly. "Have fun in a bunker for the rest of your life. At least I'll actually be trying to help people." He wasn't sure how, but he knew it didn't involve hiding in bunkers.

With that, the Furies took off. Ken glared after them. He resumed the trek to the bunker. His last thought of any true insight on the matter was that Clark was right. They should have used the beasts. Although he had also been right. Trying to use the beasts had backfired horribly for Clark.

* * *

"This is where we part ways." Iris nodded to Teller and his retinue of secret service agents.

"I know." Teller looked around, taking in the countryside and town in the distance, all safely away from any ambient radiation. "I would wish you luck, but I think I need all I can get."

"Then we wish you luck instead." Iris managed to perform a very strained salute. Night Furies weren't built for that particular gesture. "And remember that we no longer follow you. But that doesn't make us enemies."

"Then who should I consider my counterpart among all of you?" Teller figured he might as well know, for future reference.

Iris didn't respond. Toothless did. He stepped forward proudly, before flicking his head and tail to indicate Iris. "Iris, of course. She is our Alpha."

Hiccup stepped up on the other side. "By popular acclaim, merit, and line of succession. Toothless passed the title on, and he was the last Alpha." Which was entirely true. Toothless had really been the last Alpha.

Teller hesitated for a moment and then smiled. "I would shake your hand, but that doesn't really work. And I do want our people to be allies or at least friends."

Hiccup laughed. "There's a different gesture for that between dragons and humans. One day, maybe." He felt a gesture of trust by sharing fish wasn't quite appropriate for this scenario.

* * *

And so they left the last true President of the United States in a field, with a dozen loyal protectors. They never saw him again, and word of his efforts to restore any semblance of safety and prosperity on some small scale never reached them. He was the last President, and the only one who served for life. Mostly because no one else wanted the job, and there was no way to organize a vote. His memory did live on, in the minds of both humans and dragons. Not a bad legacy for one of the men in charge when the world burned, all things considered. But none of that mattered to the dragons. They had other concerns.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **Did anyone catch the two related references this chapter? It would have been three, but I couldn't find a place to work the last one in.**


	20. Chapter 20

_**Author's Note:**_ **This is being posted early, because the alternative is a high chance of being posted late. So, there is that. Also, we are nearing this end. Only three more chapters after this, and the last is an epilogue.**

The trip to Bar Harbor, the town Teller had spoken of in Maine, was in many ways a far more pleasant experience. The weather grew colder instead of warmer, something everyone preferred immensely. They had no deadline, though the previous deadline had in no way been tight. At several places the group even lingered a day or two when a reason presented itself.

The weeks flew by. For some of them. For Iris, the days couldn't possibly be passing any more slowly. She was anxious to end the traveling. To finally reach somewhere they could stay and have no final destination always lingering in the distance.

But the trip was in no way unpleasant. The forested terrain was breathtaking, especially from above. It was approaching fall now, and as they flew through the weeks they got possibly one of the best views in the world of the changing colors of the earth, from vibrant green to a jumbled assortment of yellow, brown, red, and most of all orange, barring the ever-present swaths of grey death caused by the radiation. It was an amazing and constantly changing sight.

Eventually, they did reach the town of Bar Harbor. Which was empty. Apparently, people had left in search of somewhere better, as with so many of the smaller towns they had encountered. A quick search revealed the target they were going to be protecting.

"Wow, they didn't even try to hide it." Abdul was smiling, the wind rushing past him as he flew over the massive concrete outer shell. It was in the shape of a donut, with the center being where presumably some hidden hatch would retract to reveal the rocket in a concealed silo. Someday. About a year or so from now, if team eight's estimates had been accurate.

Iris landed in front of one of the massive sealed doors. "Should we knock?" She had wanted to inform team eight that they were around. But it wasn't entirely necessary. The scientists very likely never left the bunker anyway. Still, it would be nice.

"Sure." Toothless spat a small plasma blast at the heavily reinforced door, the explosion produced a powerful noise and not much else. It would take far more to break in. Iris wasn't entirely sure if they were even capable of hitting the bunker with enough force to do so. That concrete shell contained far more effective layers of insulation and defense within.

A few minutes later, the bunker door opened a little bit. Enough for someone in a radiation suit to look out. "What in blue blazes are you doing here?" He didn't seem too afraid. Probably because he was too annoyed to be, and he knew they weren't animals.

"Protecting you," Iris spoke quickly. "We're moving into the area. No mercenaries are going to get by us."

"Is that so?" The scientist seemed unusually absent-minded. "Well, good. We're on track, but a year is more than enough time for us to end up needing that protection."

"Well, anyway. We'll be around. Good luck leaving the planet." Iris turned away, leaping into the sky. Toothless and Hiccup followed her, Skyler lagging behind for a moment.

She spoke curiously. "How long will it be before your people come back?" She knew it would be generations.

The scientist replied matter-of-factly. "About forty generations if all goes well. A thousand years, give or take. That's how long we plan on the colony being self-sufficient. Mostly because that's about when irreplaceable stuff starts to decay. So nine hundred years, really, to be safe."

Skyler chuffed. "Well, have fun with all of that. Personally, I'd rather stay here. The world isn't that trashed."

"We're insurance. Just in case humanity doesn't survive the next several hundred years here." The scientist laughed. "Better safe than sorry."

"They will. They always do." Skyler left, rejoining the group. "How long do we live?" That question was aimed at Toothless, who shrugged.

"No idea." Hiccup laughed. "A very long time, from what I've seen, but I don't know anything more specific than that."

Skyler hummed thoughtfully. "We might still be here when they come back. Or our children will, anyway."

* * *

The group circled the area around the bunker. It was about five miles from the sea, and so they checked the area in between it and the ocean carefully. A heavily forested patch untouched by radiation caught their attention. Or rather, it caught Toothless's attention.

"Something about this place." He dropped to the ground in a small clearing, looking around. The others were still above. Except for Hiccup, who had followed him down.

"I feel it too." Hiccup spotted something at the edge of the clearing. He trotted over, looking at what upon closer inspection appeared to be a sign. Regrettably, one written in English. He could speak and understand the language but reading it hadn't really been a top priority when computers could just translate for him. He knew the basics, and that was about it.

Toothless followed him over. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I." Hiccup vaulted into the sky, catching the attention of the closest Fury, who followed him back down. "What does it say?"

Charlie read the sign easily, his cyan eyes glinting in the reflected sunlight. "Acadia National Park Event Field. Well, now we know what this place is. A National Park."

The other Furies were landing in the clearing. Iris walked over. "So, what about this place?"

Toothless looked around. "We need a few things. First, it needs to be close to the ocean, and the bunker. This is about halfway between them, a two-minute flight in either direction."

"Which is good." Hiccup looked around. "And some nearby running water would be nice. Along with shelter. Caves, maybe."

"Exactly." Toothless trotted off into the woods. "We should all look in different directions."

Iris snapped into action. "Everyone, fan out into the woods. Meet back here in an hour. We're looking for running water and caves, ideally close together!"

The group did as told, dispersing into the brightly colored woods, a mix of evergreen trees and those whose colors changed with the seasons. They left in groups of twos and threes for safety, Skyler happily chasing after Toothless.

Hiccup, of course, followed Iris. Once they had moved out of earshot, he laughed. "Alright, my turn. How many pairs now?"

Iris purred at him. "Five. Sophia and Xander are the fifth."

Hiccup slumped, seemingly defeated. "It was a long shot." Then he laughed. "And it worked! There are six, by my count."

Iris stopped and stared at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yup. Helena and Zylus."

"They both have orange eyes." Which was true, though Zylus had a deeper shade, while Helena's was pale. "Not that it means anything."

"True. Just a coincidence." Hiccup walked closer to Iris, the two moving side by side through the rather sparse forest, easily navigating the few obstacles. "Which leaves Jarrel, Abdul, and Charlie. With Malinda and Trudy." His voice was sad. "It feels so... cruel, almost. Watching as the field narrows, and knowing that someone is out of luck."

Iris nodded. "I wish we had gotten one more volunteer. A female, of course. That would have made all of this perfect."

They continued on in companionable silence, moving further from the clearing they had all started in. The forest was beautiful, but the required features definitely weren't in this particular direction. They happened upon a rise, and stood on the edge, looking out over the valley below.

"This place feels so wild. Is this what Berk was like?" Iris wasn't sure. It certainly seemed overgrown.

Hiccup laughed sadly. "No, not even close. This place is beautiful in an obvious way. It's easy to move around, to travel in. Berk was a tangled mess of trees, rocks, and water. All in the same place, overlapping and breaking into each other. The forest was hostile, almost. Hard to move through, vertical, unforgiving. Rocks made it a maze of actually navigable areas, and water was everywhere in the warmer months, forming ice the rest of the year. Ponds, streams, perfectly placed mud. Very few people enjoyed walking through the forest in their spare time." He sighed. "But it had some amazing views. Especially from above, when all of that difficulty didn't matter. Then you could just see how chaotically natural it was. It was a perfect home for Vikings. A stubborn place for a stubborn people."

"Do you miss it? Any of it?"

"Honestly? I feel like I should, sometimes. But... it's probably because of how I ended up leaving, so to speak. We died, basically. So this is a new life." Hiccup rested a wing over Iris's back. "So it's not really that I miss it. I remember it fondly. There's no longing to go back, to undo all of this." He shook his head. "Definitely not to undo everything that's happened since."

Iris shifted, standing closer, shaded by his wing. "I don't know what to say. It would be petty of me to be happy about that."

"No, it isn't. It would be unfair of me to always want to be somewhere else, to be wondering 'what if.' This is my life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's fine for you to be happy about that." Hiccup chuffed, looking over at her. "I hope this is the place. We've traveled so far."

* * *

They all met back in the clearing. No one had found everything together. Jarrel had located a stream, flowing through a slightly higher piece of the park, but there were no caves around that area. Silvia and Winston had, on the other hand, found plenty of caves, natural hollows in the side of what they described as a natural valley almost steep enough at the edges to count as a ravine. They said that there were dozens of somewhat shallow caves, unconnected and fairly dry.

"So, we can have one or the other. Or keep looking somewhere else." Iris huffed in annoyance. It figured things wouldn't work out that well.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was purring. "Come on. We're smart dragons." That was said sarcastically. "And there are several engineers here. And me. We can just do a bit of... renovation."

"What are you suggesting?"

Hiccup swiped a patch of grass aside, revealing flat dirt beneath. He drew with a claw, illustrating his ideas. "This is us." He put a dot in the middle of the space. "Right now. Here." He looked over at the Furies. "Please mark the river and caves on this."

Silvia and Jarrel did so. The stream wandered through the Eastern half of the space, flowing from the North down off of the Southeast edge, presumably towards the ocean. The caves, on the other hand, were located solidly to the South, almost directly South of the clearing they were standing in.

Hiccup nodded happily. "So, we just..." He drew another line, from the stream down, crossing the caves, and looping back around to rejoin the stream. Then he erased the original segment between those two points, leaving a rerouted water source that flowed directly through the place the caves were. "You said the river is high up, right? And it gets lower the further East it goes?"

Jarrel nodded, grinning at the plans. "It does. Quite low, if you go far enough East. This entire place is somewhat high up, compared to sea level."

"Which is perfect", someone else added, sounding excited. "Otherwise the fact that the caves are in a valley might have been an issue. But we're high enough up that it won't matter. It just means more redirecting."

"So this is doable?" Iris knew she shouldn't have underestimated the group. They had done the impossible on a genetic level. Landscaping shouldn't be an issue.

"Yes. Let's go see where we'll be living."

* * *

The caves were perfect. Almost. "A little work getting rid of the stalactites and it will be fine." Toothless ducked, exiting one such cave. There were literally dozens, scattered around the edges of the valley. There was also a maze of trees in the center and at the present a blanket of colorful leaves coating the ground. It would be quite nice.

Skyler purred, looking around. "And imagine it with a stream going through the middle." She visibly traced the proposed path with her eyes. It had been a few hours, and Hiccup had already coordinated with the few engineers who were out of all of them the most suited for this particular task. There was a small furrow digging through the ground in the valley, originating from the Northwest wall and meandering through the valley to stop at the East wall, rather abruptly. Toothless had asked about that earlier.

"Might need to blow a new tunnel for it. At least until the terrain drops to this level." The Fury speaking had shrugged. "It might take a few weeks, but we've got plenty of firepower and all the time in the world. It can be done."

Skyler purred, drawing Toothless's attention again. "And a waterfall on that side. It will be perfect."

He agreed wholeheartedly. "Yes. And I like this part too." He dipped an extended wing, using it to scoop up a large mound of leaves. Dumping them on Skyler was a tempting proposition, but he held himself in check for the moment, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "This happens every year?"

"Before winter, without fail." Skyler noticed his wingful of leaves, but it was too late. She spluttered in surprise, spitting a few out and flapping, creating a powerful downdraft that cleared the immediate area of leaves completely. Which, she noticed, had the pleasant side effect of covering Toothless in them.

He shook himself. "I still like them. Just ideally not all over me."

"I don't know, it looks good on you." Skyler purred teasingly. "Maybe keep them?"

Toothless snorted. "I will if you will."

"Never mind." They both laughed together. "So, want to pick a cave?" She had seen a few other Furies doing exactly that.

"Yes. Can it be one next to Hiccup and Iris's?" Toothless pointed with his nose at the North side of the valley, and a few caves near where the waterfall was planned to be. The two dragons in question had claimed the cave closest to where the waterfall was going to go. He wasn't sure why his friend had chosen that particular spot, but knowing Hiccup there was some subtle reason behind it.

Skyler laughed. "Of course." She found it quite endearing, just how attached Toothless was to Hiccup. They might have only recently become biological brothers, but she knew the mindset had existed long before that. And she was pretty sure neither knew who was the older brother in this particular situation. Logically, they were all patterned off of Toothless, and they had scanned him a few days before growing the first body. So he was physically a few weeks older than her, and an additional two weeks older than each subsequent Fury. But in practice, the roles of 'older brother' and 'younger brother' seemed to swap places fairly often. "Of course. I was thinking the same thing." She nosed him and pointed his head in the direction of the cave directly adjacent. "That one seems fine."

"Let's go look first, at least."

* * *

"So, is everyone happy with all of this?" Iris was holding a meeting of sorts, among the scattered trees of the valley. Everyone had naturally gathered there after a few hours. "Don't feel pressured to say you are if there's something bothering you. We need to consider everything."

Malinda spoke. "No, this is great. Shelter, food nearby, water soon to be right outside the door, caves for everyone." She was one of the few unattached Fury and had already picked out a cave for herself.

"The area is nice and secluded, and the location is perfect." Charlie barked happily. "No stupid heatwaves. And snow won't be a problem for us. Fire isn't exactly a scarce resource."

"What about flooding? We are living in a valley." Trudy seemed a bit worried.

Abdul answered quickly. "We're going to make a perfect drain for the valley for the river anyway. So it won't happen."

"And I suppose we don't need to worry about wildlife?" Jarrel looked around.

Toothless hummed thoughtfully. "No." That was said decisively. "If there is anything around, it'll avoid us on sight. I haven't seen or smelled any traces of wolves." He chuffed. "And besides, I'm going to teach all of you how to fight." A loud roar cut off half a dozen objections. "I don't mind if you think you're a pacifist or anything like that. But you need to know enough to defend yourselves from stupid animals who feel like attacking a dragon." He stared pointedly at Xander. "I've already seen what the reaction would probably be if you don't. It's not good."

Iris nodded supportively. "We will all learn enough. And those who want to go beyond basic self-defense are entirely welcome to." She stepped forward. "I am no fighter. But I'm going to learn everything Toothless can teach. Because I want to be able to defend myself and everyone else here. Think about that. You might not like the idea. But if the time comes, is avoiding a bit of discomfort now worth being a liability in the defense of your home, family, and friends?"

That silenced any further objections. Iris purred. "Thank you." She continued. "Are there any other concerns about living here?"

There were none. Everyone looked around, ascertaining what they already knew. This place would be perfect, once Hiccup and the others were done.

"Good." Iris shook her head. She had planned to raise other subjects of discussion today, but those could wait. Let everyone get settled in first. "Well, that's it for now. I'd suggest we all stick to a diurnal schedule, for now. We don't need to avoid the heat here. And I for one like seeing the sun, don't you?"

There was a murmur of agreement at that. Everyone dispersed, most heading back to their chosen caves, to begin fixing them up. That was the biggest priority at the moment. It was past noon, and no one wanted to sleep in an unimproved cave come night.

* * *

"Back up a little."

Skyler did as she was told, taking a step back. She eyed the offending stalactite disapprovingly. This one had been quite tough to safely dislodge. But the new trick they had figured out might do it. "On three?"

"On three", Toothless agreed, standing across from her. "One, two, three!"

They both fired in unison, their fairly evenly sized blasts hitting the stalactite on opposite sides. The blasts crushed the base, and because there was an equal amount of force from both sides, the stalactite didn't go flying and shatter against a wall, like others had. It simply dropped to the floor of the cave, shattering into a pile of stone shards and fragments.

Skyler flapped her wings, clearing the rock dust. "Perfect. That was the last one."

Toothless nodded, nudging the pile bit by bit towards the opening of the cave. Skyler joined him, and they painstakingly moved the debris out to rest beside the entrance, the current pile joining a much larger mound already there. The stalagmites had been easy to snap off and remove with a bit of explosive sanding of the floor afterward, but the stalactites were more dangerous. This had been the biggest and worst of them. They were now done clearing out their cave.

A strange sound made them both pause. It was that of more than a dozen small fireballs hitting in succession. A sound they had heard once an hour since everyone had begun cleaning out their new homes. Toothless couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. He walked the ten feet that separated the entrance of his cave to the one belonging to Hiccup. "What are you doing?"

Hiccup emerged, grinning. "Planning ahead. Come see. If this works, you'll be doing the same."

Toothless and Skyler followed him in. The caves were nondescript, most having a fairly irregular shape and no side passages or unusual features to speak of. Hiccup's, however, had something clearly done intentionally.

Skyler eyed the circular depression in the far corner of the cave floor curiously. Then she noticed the subtle but deep channel abutting the base of the wall, going from the entrance of the cave to the depression, and continuing on the other side, leading to the other wall... the one their cave shared with Hiccup and Iris's cave. "Will it work?"

Iris, who had been watching, laughed. "Running water inside the cave. We can't extend it too far though. You guys can have it, but any more than that will be a bit unsanitary. Because the water comes from the river, through our cave," She gestured to the depression and channels, "where we drink. Then it can go through a hole in the cave wall and floor over to you, into a depression in your floor like a bowl, and out back to the river. The thing is, it's running water."

Hiccup smiled. "And not a bathroom. For anyone. We can't foul the river, because there are others downstream. By that same logic, running this little outlet too far is disgusting..."

Toothless nodded. "Because every subsequent cave is getting the water after everyone else in the chain. Not at all sanitary." He understood the concept of sanitation pretty well. Night Furies were quite clean dragons, and living with humans both in the past and present day had taught him the basics principles behind it.

"I assume you don't mind tiny trace amounts of Night Fury spit in your drinking water." Hiccup grinned.

Skyler laughed. "Like it would even be noticeable."

"From the two of us? Of course not. But imagine getting this small stream after ten other dragons. That would be fairly obvious." Hiccup sighed. "So it will be pretty impossible to run this system very far. Basically, just the caves in this wall. They're few and close enough that it won't be an issue."

"Which is why you picked one here." Toothless had been sure there was a reason. This was it. "I like it. How do we make the modifications?"

Iris answered that. "By firing the smallest fireballs you can manage. They're like little chisels. It takes a few hours to make real changes, but it is doable."

Toothless made sure he knew what he needed to do. "So the water will run through a little hole in the wall and floor, through a channel in our side, through a deeper bowl that we'll drink from, and out back to the main stream?"

"Yes. You can get started on the bowl, but we'll do the hole in the wall. And of course, finishing the circuit should wait until the rerouting of the main source of water is done." Hiccup nodded to the current beginning of the channel, which started just inside the entrance to the cave. "Once it is, we can do the last bits."

Skyler had a question. "Are you worried the others might be jealous?"

Hiccup frowned. "It's not very useful, honestly. Just a little thing, not having to leave the cave for water. And it will likely freeze over in the winter. So it's not really a big difference. They're welcome to carve their own if it's worth the trouble to them." He gestured to the intended path of the river, and the distance from it to the majority of the occupied caves, all visible in the orange glow of the now setting sun. "It likely won't be worth it."

"That makes sense." Iris nuzzled Hiccup. "But I like it."

"And so do we." Skyler purred. "It's nice to have such inventive neighbors." She batted at Toothless's ear playfully. "So, now what?"

Toothless's stomach rumbled, answering that question. "Now we go check out the food situation."

* * *

The ocean was a few minutes away by air. Or a few hours by foot, judging by the rough terrain below. The forest and hill beneath Hiccup's wings gave way to the ocean abruptly, absolutely no beach or transition from land to sea in sight. The forest just stopped on one final rock outcropping, the waves beating against the ten-foot-high cliff.

The Furies had all ventured out to the ocean together as night fell. Most went immediately to fishing. Hiccup circled above the cliff for a moment, Iris by his side. "Do you see it?"

Iris looked at the area. "I think so. This isn't safe." They were considering one very crucial fact. There was no way back to land from the water. Just an inhospitable vertical wall of stone.

"Eventually, someone will fall in. And with this..."

"They'll drown," Iris growled. "Not acceptable." She looked down the coast in both directions. A cliff face as far as the eye could see. "Any ideas? It looks like we have to fix it, not find a better place. No one will want to go too far out of the way, and this spot is directly East of the valley. It's convenient. Or it would be."

Hiccup nodded slowly. "We need to either carve a ledge into the face or drop in large enough rocks to create a rock landing of sorts. Another long-term project, either way."

"We need to finish this one as soon as possible. For safety."

"Yes, but we also shouldn't wait on the water, because this isn't a good place to drink, either. Until we get the stream rerouted, it will be a hassle multiple times a day just to get a drink from where it is now."

"Half of us on each project, I think. Both are equally important. I'm not sure which one will take longer." Iris considered the cliffs. "Smoothing a solid cliff face, or carving a new riverbed. Both are big jobs."

Hiccup spotted a school of fish and blasted them. They both swooped down and ate their fill, flying away as they did. "We have time. Seventeen of us, eight blasts an hour each. That's one hundred and thirty-six blasts an hour. And at least twelve hours in a day. I think more than a thousand plasma blasts a day is enough, don't you?"

Iris hadn't thought about it like that. "Wow. We'll be done with both in a week."

"Perspective." Hiccup laughed, tossing her his last fish, and watching her grab it midair and swallow it whole. "Ready to head home?"

"Yes. Home." Iris knew the valley and their cave was home now. She couldn't have asked for a better place. No problems that couldn't be fixed, and so many little things. The leaves, the unspoiled nature around them. Sharing it all with Hiccup, and all of her friends. "How did it all come to this?" She took stock of where she was now. And _what_ she was now, comparing it to what the graduating chemist she had been had signed up for. A government job with very vague goals, assisting the elderly leader of the project.

"If college graduate me could see me now-"

Hiccup snorted. "She'd run away screaming."

Iris growled at him playfully. "You know what I mean." This wasn't at all what she had signed up for. It was so much better, in every way. It wasn't a job. It was literally a new life.


	21. Chapter 21

"Okay, everyone. Listen closely. This might save your life." Toothless paced in front of the sixteen other dragons, beginning the first mandatory self-defense lesson. They were in the clearing he and Hiccup had landed in originally, as it was a convenient open space. "First. Your most vulnerable part is not, I repeat, not, your head. Defend it, but don't be afraid to bite and slam things with it. We have thick skulls." He grinned. "Not as thick as that of the average Viking, but still. Your most vulnerable parts are actually your tail and wings."

Hiccup frowned. "A downed dragon..."

Toothless flicked his tail significantly. "Is usually a dead dragon, unless they get very lucky. Correct." He looked around. "Does everyone understand?"

There was a chorus of growls and warbles.

"Good." He took a step forward, snarling menacingly. "Second. You. Are. Not. A. Human. So that means when you see a bear, do you know what you should be thinking?"

Xander was grinning, but he held his silence.

"You should be thinking 'annoyance, or potentially lunch if I'm in the mood for tough and fairly tasteless meat.' Basically, you should see prey. I'm not saying to kill it, or even ignore it. Prey can be dangerous. But you are the predator here. So get used to that. They should be scared of you, not the other way around." He wanted to get through the mental aspect of all of this first.

That particular piece of advice was harder to swallow. Someone asked what many of them were thinking. "How do we just switch over like that? None of us are used to thinking like that at all."

Toothless hummed consideringly, pacing as he spoke his thoughts. "Ideally, I'd set you all to chasing bears around as practice, like with Xander. But that's a bit impractical. I haven't even seen any around." No wolves either, which was a mild relief. "But as to thinking like a predator, or at least getting used to the idea? That's easier. I want each of you to go fend for yourselves."

Toothless met the eyes of a few of the Furies he had identified as the more reluctant. "Today, I'm forbidding anyone from going fishing. Either catch something to eat or come to me an hour after sundown in the middle of the valley. I'll let you fish once you explain what stopped you from feeding yourself." He growled. "I'm going to be spending most of the day near the ocean, making sure no one sneaks a quick snack. So feel free to hunt your own food."

There were no complaints voiced, though Toothless was pretty sure a few of them were not at all happy with the situation. They all understood the necessity of letting him teach them, and this was how he chose to do it.

* * *

In the end, no one failed to rise to the challenge, at least to some extent. They all worked up the luck or skill required to hunt something. Toothless actually spent most of the day spying on various Furies at random. None of them would go behind his back. Especially when they thought he was lurking, just waiting to catch them. He managed to see Iris hunt down a small rabbit. She seemed a bit reluctant, but less so once she had eaten it and realized it wasn't even close to enough. He had purred quietly at the way she stalked off into the woods. They all needed to experience this at least once. Whether or not they enjoyed hunting, the knowledge that like it or not they were predators needed to be understood, not simply known. Experience was the best way to do that.

The Furies demonstrated both ends of the spectrum. He noted with resignation that Helena had resorted to catching squirrels, apparently unwilling or unable to go after bigger targets. Meanwhile, Xander seemed to be hunting specifically for something big. Likely a bear, though Toothless saw him settle for a large buck that happened to be passing through.

Enthusiastic or reluctant, they all managed it. Toothless of course had no issues fending for himself even while trailing other Furies all day. He judged the first day of dragon training a success while he also winced at the horribly familiar name he had accidentally given it. What started out as a simple name had quickly spiraled into a massive joke coming from Hiccup. Toothless was training them to be dragons, so dragon training was a fine name. It was just a shame Hiccup had heard him call it that. Hopefully, the comparisons to Gobber would stop soon.

* * *

Toothless eyed the dragons. "I think we've got the mindset down." It had been a few lessons, and no one objected to thinking like a predator if the situation required it. Time to move on. "So, now we get to actual things to practice."

He jumped straight up, holding his wings in. Once he had landed, he barked. "Your leg muscles are powerful. They have to be, to take off like that. We are built for close combat and ranged. Our fire supplies the range, and our muscle and stocky build the physical side. So, here's what I want you to do." He gestured to Hiccup. "I'll need a practice dummy."

Hiccup smirked. "When he needs a real dummy, he just looks at a reflective surface. I'm practice because we look so similar." He dodged a tail swipe. "Come on, you set yourself up for that one."

Toothless groaned. "I did." As soon as Hiccup opened his mouth, he tackled him, pinning the sarcastic Fury in seconds. He looked up at the shocked Furies. "The best way to learn how to fight on the ground... is doing." He got off of Hiccup. "No claws, no teeth. No breaking bones, and no targeting eyes, wings, or tailfins. All of that we'll get to later." He grinned at the shocked expressions that statement produced. "For now, just wrestle. Pin each other. Try to break out from being pinned. This will help you get used to exactly how strong and maneuverable you can be."

Hiccup stood, shaking his head and flapping his wings. "It's on."

Toothless shook his head. "Not with me. You can get revenge later. Right now, I need to make sure no one goes too far." He nodded at the group of Furies. "Besides, they need an even number. So go."

Hiccup smiled. "I'll just catch you when you aren't expecting it." He walked back to the group.

That made Toothless remember something. "Oh, and everyone? Don't pair up with..." How to put that? "Anyone you share a cave with. It's hard to go all out when you worry too much about hurting your opponent that seriously."

Several pairs of Furies split up at that. Soon, they were all divided into groups of two, staring at each other uncertainly.

"Well, go on. We might have all day, but there's no point in stalling." Toothless laughed as the pairs began fighting as he had instructed. Which, given the limitations he had put on them, wasn't so much fighting as wrestling. Badly, at that. They were little more than flailing masses of uncoordinated limbs. The tail in particular, he noted, was going to cause problems. It was in most cases being entirely ignored by both combatants. Which was bad. He saw a dozen ways in which that could be used against them by someone with...

Wait. They were the only dragons. So while this was good in teaching them how far they could go, and how strong they were, it wasn't so useful in teaching actual combat techniques. Because any taught by this would only be useful in fighting other dragons. Of which there were none.

* * *

"How much more is there?" Trudy was voicing the general question most of the Furies had. It had been weeks of this combat training.

Toothless smirked. "Right now? Almost nothing. We finished basic self-defense two weeks ago, remember?" He had slipped that announcement in subtly. He was pretty sure no one had understood the implications at the time.

There was a chorus of groans from approximately half of the assembled dragons. The ones who had only wanted to do the minimum. "You mean we were done two weeks ago?!"

Toothless nodded. "I assumed everyone had decided to stay for the optional stuff." That was stretching it. But they had never asked, and he was entirely fine with teaching them everything he knew. "Today is the last real lesson, anyway. Everything else is just practicing what you already know." He stood in front of the group. "And this is a test, of sorts. We have no humans to train with."

Malinda snorted. "You mean, to attack?"

Hiccup responded to that. "No, he means to train. We did that every once in a while. Riders against dragons in mock-combat. No one really enjoyed it, but we still did it. Things like Grimora and dragons capable of mind control made it necessary for us to know how to defend ourselves." No matter how wrong it felt to raise even a blunted and harmless weapon in Toothless's direction, or how pointless. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself against a skinny one-legged Viking. Never a fair fight.

Toothless snorted. "Hiccup is right. But that isn't an option. So, the next best thing. Me." He sank into a ready position, crouched with legs firmly planted. "Each of you will fight me. Victory is achieved when one dragon pins the other for more than five seconds. In a real fight, being pinned that long means your opponent is entirely capable of ripping your throat out or tearing your wings to shreds. Death." He snarled. "No teeth, no claws, and no going for wings or tails, because that stuff wouldn't help against a human anyway."

There was a rumble of assent. The expressions in the group ranged from anticipatory to dreading. But they all wanted to see how they'd fare against the real dragon. The warrior. The one who actually deserved and had earned the title Vikings assigned their species.

Toothless decided to work his way up. He began with the known pacifists, Trudy, Charlie, Winston, and Silvia. They were doctors, or just averse to any kind of violence. He ended those fights quickly to avoid embarrassing them. They tried, but the lack of motivation made them slow and predictable.

Next came most of the other Furies. The ones who actually made him work for the victory. That group included Skyler, Iris, and Abdul, among others. They had taken his lessons to heart and fought well. He was forced to take breaks between each fight, in order to recover his breath.

Then it was time for the three hard ones. Jarrel and Malinda both fought with a determination and strength that made them far more of a challenge than any other Furies. He almost lost to Malinda, escaping a pin in two seconds. No one else had even come close to pinning him. But he defeated them both… and faced off against Hiccup.

"Ready?" Hiccup looked a bit concerned. "You seem tired."

"I am. But that's fine." Toothless steeled himself. "I won't go easy on you."

"Same." Hiccup growled.

"I just want to ask you something first." Toothless wasn't really trying to buy time. He had wondered this for a while. Ever since that first day of wrestling between all of the Furies. "What's your motivation? You fight harder than I've ever seen."

Hiccup shrugged. "The same as always. You just couldn't see it in the past because I didn't have the strength and stamina to do what I would have. Protecting the people I care about."

That explained a lot. "I should have guessed. I do the same. And I suppose five years of fighting by my side helps. Like flying did."

"Yes." Hiccup laughed. "And it will help even more here, right now. I know you, bud."

Toothless snarled, a threatening sound. His tone belied it however, happy and excited. "Let's see!" He pounced.

The minutes that followed were a jumble of attack, counterattack, and defense. Hiccup fought with every trick he had seen Toothless use and abused his knowledge of Toothless's habits at every opportunity. Toothless fought back by trying to be unpredictable. One had experience and the other knowledge. The two were evenly matched at the moment, though Toothless had gone in at a disadvantage.

* * *

Iris and Skyler were watching a bit more anxiously than the other Furies. "What if they accidentally hurt each other?" Iris wished it was over already. It certainly looked like a fight to the death, though neither combatant was using claws or teeth. The growls and frenetic energy involved made up the difference.

"Come on, they both know better." Skyler was a bit worried, but she was confident Toothless could pull out a victory before anyone got hurt.

* * *

Toothless was flagging. His energy wasn't very high to begin with, and now it was hitting rock bottom. And as it did...

"Toothless?" Hiccup sprung away. "I think that's cheating." He was panting, his eyes wide.

"What is?" Toothless wasn't sure what Hiccup meant. "I just got my second wind, that's all."

"Does your second wind involve fighting a Bewilderbeast? Because there aren't any around." Hiccup pointed at Toothless. "Glowing blue spines aren't exactly a normal second wind."

Toothless craned his head to see that his back was indeed glowing a neon blue, his spines almost translucent. "Uhh..." He shook his head. "Call it a draw?" He wasn't entirely sure what this was, and to continue the fight might be dangerous in this condition.

"Sure, a draw." Hiccup seemed relieved. "Can you turn it off, or..?" He shook his head. "It's cool, but I don't think that should be permanent. It kinda ruins the whole 'stealth' vibe we have as a species to be literally glowing blue."

Toothless snorted. "Agreed." He tried to figure out what was going on. "I have plenty of energy now. Maybe I need to burn it off?" He took off running into the forest at top speed. "I'll be back in a few minutes!"

Everyone stared after him. "Well, that was weird." Abdul warbled curiously. "Why did that happen?"

Hiccup shook his head. "It is strange. But I see a pattern now. Low energy, feeling of threat, and desire to protect. They all seem to be common factors in both times this has happened."

Skyler shook her head. "The first one makes sense. But was he really feeling threatened by your safe fight? There was no real danger."

"There wasn't, but maybe whatever triggers that doesn't take into account rules of engagement. It would have been life-threatening if we hadn't banned claws and teeth beforehand."

"And desire to protect? What was he protecting?" Iris paced, trying to figure it out.

Hiccup laughed. "Nothing specific at the moment. But he and I both fight with the same motivations. To defend each other, and everyone else here. So pretty much every fight for him involves protecting someone."

Iris followed that chain of logic. "So to trigger whatever that is needs all three of those things?"

"I guess." Hiccup thought back. "We haven't done much real fighting, and never enough to actually become that tired. So it might apply to all of us." He looked around. "Keep that in mind. Although testing it isn't a good idea. Too many risks involved in intentionally recreating that scenario."

There was a murmur of agreement, and then a few barks of surprise as Toothless flew past the clearing, moving as fast as he could, still glowing.

"This might take a while." Hiccup sat down.

* * *

It ended up taking Toothless a full two hours to burn off the energy the glow had given him. When it did abruptly fade away, he collapsed, utterly exhausted.

Which, Toothless recalled, was exactly what had happened about five minutes after the defeat of Drago and his Bewilderbeast, though he hadn't tried to rid himself of the condition, it had just gone away on its own. He had attributed it to normal stress and exhaustion at the time.

Either way, it meant he was stuck where he had fallen for a while. Skyler stayed with him in the woods, while a few of the other Furies brought them fish. A few hours later, Toothless was capable of walking back to the valley and their cave.

He slumped inside the cave, still tired. "I don't want to do that again."

Skyler purred, pushing him gently towards the small pool in the corner. "Drink. You haven't had any water all day."

Toothless did, grateful that the water projects had already been completed. It had been a month or so, and Hiccup's design worked perfectly, the soft sound of running water coexisting with the distant crash of the waterfall. The safety features by the ocean were taking longer, but they would be done soon. Everything was working out fine. Winter was upon them, but the weather had not yet gotten cold enough to freeze the rapidly flowing water.

Skyler huddled up beside him. "So combat training is over. The projects are all almost done. What next?" She spoke quietly.

Toothless grinned. "Something quite embarrassing for everyone involved. Hiccup mentioned it to me once. A lesson in biology, I believe he said." He wasn't looking forward to that particular explanation, but he knew it had to be given to everyone. Hopefully, that would make it a bit less awkward.

"Ah, yes. That." Skyler chuckled. "It's almost truly winter. Now is probably a good time."

Toothless snorted. "Actually, it isn't yet. Spring is the time the knowledge would actually be needed." From what he knew, anyway.

"Spring, then." Skyler looked at him craftily. "But if one wasn't trying for eggs, would the time of year affect anything else?"

Toothless thought about it. "Not that I know of. At least, I don't think so."

"Then you should give the lecture now. No reason to wait." She started laughing. "Give everyone the opportunity to practice before spring."

Toothless snorted. "Very funny."

* * *

A few months later, and Skyler was once again laughing at Toothless. "I'm not sure how much of an expert you really are. Only in the spring, you said." It was late November, by their best guess. The stream was frozen, the seasonal trees bare, the sky cold and grey. The ground was covered in snow, a white blanket silencing the world.

Toothless backed up defensively, having just returned to the cave. He dropped the fish he had been carrying by the entrance. "Hey, I thought that was true! I assumed there had to be a reason all the other dragons waited until then."

"Apparently, it was a cultural reason, not a biological one." Skyler nosed the large black egg sitting between them. "So here we are. On the other hand, now we know we do lay eggs. Better than live birth, at least from my perspective." She wasn't at all unhappy about Toothless's apparent mistake. She had been looking forward to spring for this anyway.

"Well..." Toothless seemed at loss for words. He had just come back with fish to find the egg and Skyler, where he had only left his mate. "I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure what to do now."

Skyler looked outside. "Keep it warm, obviously. Though that's my job." She settled down over the egg, carefully arranging herself so that she wouldn't crush it. "Go ask Iris. She's the biologist, she would know."

Toothless darted out of the cave. "I'll be back in a second!" He beat a path through the ankle-high snow over to Hiccup and Iris's cave. "Iris? Hiccup?" He stuck the tip of his snout into view. "Can I talk to you?"

He felt a paw swat at his snout. "Of course. Come in." The group had developed something of the dragon equivalent of knocking on the door, showing themselves without looking into the cave itself. But being swatted by the occupants wasn't a part of that idea.

He shook himself, dislodging the drifting clumps of snow that had stuck to his back. "Good, you're both here." He smiled nervously, his tail swishing. "I have some good news. And a question that hopefully, Iris can answer."

Hiccup grinned. "Honestly, bud? It's hard to keep secrets from your neighbors. Congratulations, by the way. You've discredited both of us as dragon experts." He was laughing, Iris swatting at him.

Iris purred soothingly. "Ignore him. We wouldn't have known, but there isn't anything else it could be, you asking about something important and having good news. The stream drowns out any sounds coming from more than five feet away. Your privacy is safe."

Toothless slumped, relieved. "Good." He straightened up. "So, do you have any advice? How are eggs usually handled by other species?"

Iris hummed thoughtfully. "Keep it warm at all times. Rotate it, probably every day or so." She thought for a moment. "Do other species hatch capable of speech, or do they have to learn?"

Toothless shrugged. "I don't really know. No one wanted a random Night Fury in the area when there was an egg or hatchling around, and I never had a reason to find that out back then."

"Well then, better safe than sorry. You should probably talk as much as possible around the egg, and the hatchling whenever that becomes the case. Humans learn speech by hearing it, and we don't know if that extends to unhatched eggs. So talk to it, around it. About anything, really." She shrugged. "Other than that... you've probably got some very helpful instincts buried somewhere in your head. The rest of us might too, but that's a bit more unlikely. If something feels right, trust yourself. But use common sense too."

Hiccup smiled at Toothless. "And get used to the idea of being a father."

"Thank you, Iris." Toothless turned to leave. "Should you be doing the same, Hiccup?"

Hiccup froze. "Maybe?" He looked over at Iris. "Possibly?" He glared sarcastically at Toothless. "I blame you."

"Blame? You should be thanking me." Toothless threw that remark over his shoulder as he left.

"Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!"

"That insult doesn't work anymore! You're a dragon too!"

* * *

The months passed, and winter would soon give way to spring. Toothless noted with slight interest that apparently he and Skyler were the only ones to get lucky with their 'practice' so far. They remained the only mated pair with an egg to care for. Speaking of which...

Everyone but Skyler, who was watching the egg, had gathered in the valley. Iris had called a meeting, a few days after Toothless's news. "I called us all here to discuss some personal things. Personal to all of us. We're building a society here. I think we're all comfortable enough with ourselves now to make this a necessary conversation. The customs and unspoken rules we set here will carry down to our children, and so on. So even though I don't think any of this is necessary for us, I'm going to set the rules anyway, for future generations."

The Furies nodded. They understood the point of all of this.

Iris continued. "First of all, we should hear from the only dragon among us to have any prior experience with dragon society. Toothless?"

Toothless stepped forward, raising his voice to be heard clearly. "There weren't many rules where I came from. The strong took from the weak, usually, if no one was around to stop them. That included mates, sometimes. It was just how the world worked. And none of the humans we lived with later on understood what was going on, so of course, they didn't interfere. There were few rules, and it wasn't uncommon for two dragons to fight to the death over some moderately petty disagreement." He flicked his ears. "However, those were other species, and a different time. We can do better."

Iris took over again. "So, we have a few things to decide. Do we agree that the practice of monogamy should still be observed?"

"Actually," a Fury named Helena ventured, "wouldn't polygamy be better for our species?"

There was a small commotion at that. Iris wasn't sure why none of them had considered the idea before. If they had limited genetic stock, it followed that the more diversity in procreation, the better for the species. At least, in general.

Abdul cast Iris a knowing look. "Not necessarily. For humans, yes, definitely. It's not even a question, from a purely genetic standpoint."

"Why are we any different?" Winston sounded hopeful, his tail twined around Silvia's. He clearly didn't like the idea. The fact that Abdul, one of the Furies who was still at risk of being left out, was speaking against it was very likely encouraging.

Iris and Abdul had discussed it a long time ago, back in the bunker. They had needed the computers to run the simulations, as it was too complex to be mapped out efficiently by hand. She knew the answer.

"Toothless, how long did it take you to grow up?" Abdul asked seriously.

"About five season cycles." Toothless flicked his tail dismissively. Iris had asked him exactly that back in the bunker, and in the process explained this to him as well. He wasn't worried about possible reproduction strategies.

Really, it was a testament to how open-minded the group was that none of them immediately shot the idea down simply because they didn't like it. Looking around, that actually seemed to be the case, even for the as of yet unpaired dragons. None of them seemed happy with the prospect. It was a good thing there was a more palatable alternative. Iris turned her attention back to Abdul.

"Five years from hatching, and we live for a while." Abdul glanced over at Hiccup, who nodding in confirmation. "At least as long as humans, probably a lot longer. We can stay monogamous, as long as we keep having eggs for the foreseeable future."

"How does that help?" Jarrel asked. "There's still the same number of starting pairs."

"If we call ourselves generation zero," Abdul explained, "Then consider this. Generations three or four can take partners from newer members of generation one, simply because we will still be raising new members of that generation. It's complicated, but the models Iris and I ran in the bunker point to that being just as effective as polygamy for the first ten or so generations, and after that, at the rate we can reproduce…"

"There will be way more than enough of us to support monogamy as a feasible practice." Jarrel laughed. "Hundreds of us in a few decades, at that rate."

"Exactly." Iris noted that everyone looked relieved. "So we can either practice polygamy, or we can just keep having kids for the foreseeable future." She knew which one she wanted to do. "Should we vote?" it was a deeply personal decision, but Iris knew how the vote would go, so there was no harm.

As predicted, every single Fury in attendance preferred the latter option. They were open-minded, but given both options worked equally well, they all chose the less awkward one.

"Okay, so we're monogamous. As long as we keep track of family trees for a certain number of generations back, that should sort out keeping ourselves going as a species, genetically speaking. Are we all okay with that?" They needed to prevent inbreeding, because random mutations would occur, and it was best to mitigate any possibly harmful mutations.

There was a loud noise of general agreement for that one. Even from the Furies who had not yet paired off didn't mind, especially after the news that if any of them could not find a partner, they would not have to wait much longer than five years. Far better than the twenty or so humans would need.

"Good. Now, next up. We agree fighting to the death probably shouldn't be allowed?"

No dissent there either.

"Okay. Now, for the harder questions. We assume mates are basically the same thing as marriage for humans. Toothless, do dragons usually pair off for life unless someone else interferes?"

"Most of the time. Occasionally, they go their separate ways, but not often."

"So, I ask this. Should divorce be a thing for our society?"

That didn't have a clear answer. Finally, Malinda spoke up. "From a societal standpoint, no. It causes problems in small, isolated communities. It causes conflicts and decreases our chances of prospering as a species while we remain relatively few in number."

"But it is necessary, sometimes." That was Silvia, who had her tail wrapped around Winston's, to reassure him that she didn't personally feel the need for it to be an option. "I've seen cases where it really was unavoidable."

"Which is true. So should we make it possible, if a good reason is apparent?" Iris intentionally didn't define the phrase 'good reason'. Let future generations be guided by their conscience. She had to trust they'd have one.

That was met with approval.

"Which brings us to the other side of things. If we set rules, we need to be able to enforce them. Otherwise, they are useless." Iris growled. "But in a way that is fair, merciful, and not at all cruel."

Surprisingly, it was Hiccup who spoke. "That's easy. We're a small community right now. So for any given case that needs to be judged, have five of us pulled at random. Those five shouldn't be involved in the actual situation, but other than that pick randomly. They decide whether or not the dragon in question should be punished or not, or if they are even guilty. Then, our alpha, whoever that is, hands down the final decision. The alpha can modify the judgment of the five Furies if necessary, though that should be the exception, not the rule."

Iris laughed. "You just described a very simple, downscaled version of America's justice system. It works in theory. In practice, too many politicians and lawyers bog it down."

Abdul snorted. "We won't have those. We have one leader, chosen by..." He seemed confused. "How are we going to handle that?"

Iris smiled. "I know. Elections are a great idea, and far better than a hereditary system, but having them every four years was a bit too often. I say everyone gets to vote, but terms are..." She considered that. "We don't know how long we live. Every twenty years, maybe?" She looked around, gauging reactions. "It can't be for life, because that makes them a dictator. There won't really be much for an alpha to do, hopefully. Give the final word on incidents where the law is broken, make the occasional decision about how things work around here. Ideally, they'd be more motivational and emotional support."

Toothless spoke softly. "This is all well and good, but you realize we can't really determine how the future goes, right? They could just ignore and change all of this once we're gone."

"That's a good thing. It's always going to be up to them. We're just setting a good example." Iris laughed. "And really, do any of you expect me to believe you'd raise children that aren't fair and open-minded, kind and empathetic? We're good people, and we've seen what happens when those values aren't a common thing. It will be fine. We can make sure our great-great-grandchildren are taught those values too, if we live that long. We'll have far more of an impact on future generations than humans can."

The discussion continued on a less depressing track after that. The Furies spoke all the unspoken rules of morality and justice, making sure they were understood. They hammered out exactly what could and would be done in the future if those rules were ignored or broken, and they were merciful in setting out those punishments. Because they knew very well that there was a chance it might by some cruel twist of fate be their own descendants who faced those punishments, despite all efforts to the contrary. The death penalty was entirely forbidden. The worst possible sentencing that could be given for anything was exile, ranging from permanent to temporary, depending upon the crime and the decision of the judging Furies and alpha. Though the group had eventually been forced to realize that once the Fury in question was exiled, there was no further protection they could be given. Exile was a dangerous punishment. But it was better than execution. Imprisonment was also almost entirely forbidden.

That had been Toothless's contribution. "You hopefully will never have to experience it. But being held against your will to the ground, confined in some cave or cage, it messes with your head. Badly. Dragons who are grounded by injury often go insane. Imprisoned dragons can fall to the same fate, though the susceptibility is varied by individual. Imprisonment can just be a slow death for some dragons."

That had forced them to be very careful with the alternative solutions. Hopefully, the resulting set of disciplinary actions available to future generations would be enough. They ranged from a literal slap on the wrist (for the somewhat less harmless antics of young ones) to the Fury equivalent of community service of all kinds, to retribution in kind for certain crimes, to exile ranging from a few days to forever. And more, in between those levels of punishment, or for specific cases. Permanent exile was reserved for crimes bad enough that the perpetrator could not be allowed to live among them. Murder, for instance, though the list of crimes that fit that level of severity was somewhat longer than might be expected. Child abuse, for instance, was on that list.

That had been Skyler's contribution, relayed through Toothless. "Skyler says that in that case, we have a responsibility to protect the victim. Allowing the abuser to remain around them doesn't count. Plus, it will be a very good deterrent, knowing what the consequences can be." He personally doubted that any dragon was capable of hurting their own hatchling, but he had seen rival dragons threaten each other's hatchlings. So the rule was necessary.

That had brought the conversation into the realm of non-criminal law. Things like the concept of adoption. Which, everyone agreed, should be fairly simple. Becoming mates, on the other hand, had required some background information from Toothless.

"Basically, if you both agree, that's it. There's no ceremony, no need for witnesses."

Zylus had objected to that. "But people could lie, or manipulate others. There should be some visual confirmation or ceremony to make sure everyone knows. That kind of thing is public knowledge, or should be."

"I agree." Iris smiled at Hiccup. "But nothing too long or elaborate. Would simply acknowledging each other as mates in front of enough people be good?"

Zylus laughed. "And making sure that the alpha is present, I would say. They're basically the only real authority around, and they definitely should know."

"Okay." Toothless snorted. "I think that's it for defining our civilization. So should we get started on that?"

"Yes. You and Skyler first, I would say." Iris began walking over to their cave, followed by everyone else. "It's only fair."

* * *

The Furies by the end of that day were separated into two groups. The now official mated pairs, and the unattached ones. Nothing really changed, it was just official now. The two groups were treated the same, mostly, though Toothless and Skyler were exempt from many responsibilities for practical reasons. Iris and Hiccup had quietly spoken to the other Fury pairs, and everyone had agreed to try and space out their having children a bit if possible, to avoid too many Furies out at once. Most of them were content to wait a year or so anyway.

And there were responsibilities that could only be performed by those without an egg to care for. Patrolling the land around the valley, for instance, took several dragons every day, working in five-hour shifts. Patrolling around team eight's bunker was an even more labor-intensive job. Everyone who could had a part in that, separated into one Fury for every twelve hours, day and night. Which meant that about once a week, each dragon spent a fairly boring day flying around outside that bunker, patrolling the land and skies around it for miles in every direction. It was an aggravating task, but one they would not have to keep up indefinitely. Once team eight left, there was no real reason to patrol save every once in a while to make sure no one had moved in somehow without them knowing about it.

Hopefully, the other part of their self-assumed responsibilities to team eight never occurred. No mercenaries had shown up yet. Ideally, that specific threat would never approach, or would only come after the rocket had gone. If they did it was uncertain among the Furies whether or not, in that case, they should stop the mercenaries from taking the bunker. It was many miles away by foot, but still basically in the neighborhood. No one wanted an enemy that close.

But the decision was soon taken out of their hands. Spring had just begun to arrive when Abdul returned from patrolling early. One final battle was upon them.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **A big thanks to** _ **rpglady76,**_ **who asked about polygamy, and whether that would work out better. After some confusing charts, asking Reddit, and considering the story, I ended up with what we have here. It is likely that my explanation about inter-generational breeding was a bit BS scientifically, if not totally wrong, but I decided that polygamy just didn't work with where I want this story to end up or some of my future plans (as nebulous and uncertain as they are at present). It makes enough sense to hold the suspension of disbelief, hopefully. A very interesting question, nonetheless.**


	22. Chapter 22

_**Author's Note:**_ **A very sad chapter ahead. Just a warning. Not everything can be happy and easy for our protagonists. This is also the last chapter, barring the epilogue, which is coming next week at the normal time.**

Abdul flew erratically, dropping in front of several Furies who happened to be standing around in the valley, talking. "Get everyone. Now!" He flew off to Iris's cave, disregarding politeness and instead running in, panting loudly. "Iris?!"

Iris stood, looking at him with eyes full of concern. "What is it?" She had a very good idea. There was only one thing they were looking out for.

"They're here. Or, well, they're going for the bunker. They're approaching from the west, along the only real road coming from that direction."

* * *

The Furies all gathered in the valley. Iris, Hiccup, Abdul, and Toothless stood in front of the rest of them, save for Skyler, who wasn't capable of joining them.

Iris spoke loudly and calmly, hoping to inspire a similar level of control in the others. "We knew this was a possibility. Abdul has spotted the mercenaries." She turned to him. "How many?"

He winced. "Nine of those trucks from last time. Each carries probably ten or so men. So ninety, give or take a few. They're coming from the West, along an old road surrounded by forest like this." He gestured to the moderately sparse trees. "Some cover, but not much."

"And they'll all have guns." Jarrel snarled, clawing at the snow beneath his feet. "We're black, and everything is white. We'll be easy targets."

Toothless snorted, tossing a bit of snow at him. "So we don't let ourselves be seen." He grinned. "There are ways to hide anywhere, and this is no exception."

Hiccup looked over at his brother. "But you should demonstrate now. Because you won't be there."

"Oh, right." Toothless seemed extremely conflicted. "Should I..."

Malinda filled the silence. "No, absolutely not. Aside from protecting your mate, we need to keep at least one breeding pair safe at all costs. Practically, that should be you and Skyler. You are the best equipped to survive as a dragon in mind as well as body, and Skyler needs to stay here anyway. Besides, you've both proven capable of having children, so all logic says you both need to stay here and stay safe. No matter what."

Iris nodded. "She's right. Toothless, as much as we'd feel more confident with you there, you have to stay here." This was not at all patronizing, Iris definitely would have preferred to have the most experienced fighter along,

"But I can help you plan." Toothless nudged Hiccup. "We can plan this together. Something we've never really gotten to do before."

"I like the sound of that. But hopefully, this is the last time too." Hiccup was grinning. "So, I have a few ideas..."

The group listened as Hiccup and Toothless built a plan of attack in a matter of minutes. One supplied the inspiration and strategy, the other hammered out the details. Everyone else looked on with a small amount of awe, occasionally throwing out suggestions. They had been aware Hiccup and Toothless were leaders and warriors among their own people, however reluctant. Now they were seeing what that truly looked like in action. Even Iris stayed mostly out of the planning, simply approving each suggestion as the presented it to her, sometimes adding to them. She could tell they both knew what they were doing. And the finished plan was... efficient. Crazy.

It was downright unfair to the mercenaries. She just hoped they didn't lose anyone to bad luck or carelessness.

* * *

Toothless stared up at the now empty grey sky. Hiccup and the others had just flown off to war. Leaving him behind. He felt torn. Horribly torn. Both options helped in protecting something he cared deeply about. He could always go enter the fray anyway. No one would stop him, and he'd be a huge help.

But if some lucky bullet got him... He whined softly, stamping the snow flat where he stood. Skyler would be alone. If they all fell, if this fight turned on them, the species was likely doomed. He couldn't fight this battle, because he and Skyler were insurance.

And so he stood there, arguing with himself for a few moments. His inner conflict would have been visible to anyone who saw him, shaking his head and growling, wings furling and unfurling as the battle within him raged.

But the answer did eventually come to him. He and Hiccup had made a good plan. Did he trust his brother to carry it out, to win? Because if he did, he'd play his part as insurance. What it boiled down to was, did he trust Hiccup to win one last fight?

"I do." With that, Toothless forced the indecision in his mind to end, and walked back to the cave he shared with Skyler, no longer worried that much. His brother would win, they'd survive. He would protect the one he had never truly expected to find, those years of searching, and his own future hatchling, secure in the knowledge that Hiccup always pulled through.

"Are you okay?" Skyler crooned worriedly. She could probably see some lingering stress from his decision.

Toothless nuzzled her affectionately. "Yes. I just wish there were two of me." He settled down in the cave entrance, keeping a wary eye on the skies and edges of the valley.

"There are. Your other half is named Hiccup." Skyler laughed softly. "Everyone will be fine." She wasn't entirely sure of that, but Toothless needed to hear some sort of reassurance that he had made the right decision.

"I hope so." Toothless sat his head on his paws, staring into the sky, watching a few flakes of snow fall. "I really do."

* * *

He no longer thought of himself as Panze's second in command. One did not consider themselves the subordinate of a dead man for very long, all while taking that man's place. He had actually decided upon something quite twisted, recently. He had taken to only responding to the name Panze.

That had startled and confused many of his subordinates. They didn't understand why he was taking the name of their deceased leader.

But he had a reason. He always did. The name was associated with an unkillable figure. The fact that the original Panze was dead didn't bother him. He'd happily take the reputation the name held, the stories among the illegal mercenary groups the world over. None of them would ever know Panze had died to some random scientist in an unnamed bunker somewhere. They'd just assume he was the real Panze, and always had been. He was stepping into his commander's shoes far more effectively than intended. No one would ever know, in this chaotic mess the world had become, that the man Clarence Thorsan had existed. They'd remember him as Panze. The man who became the leading power in the world.

He had a plan for that. The drifting clouds of radiation had dissipated, so bunkers weren't vital necessities to safety. But they were still stockpiles of technology, food, raw materials. All in one place, and all relatively undefended.

Looking through the secret database in that first bunker they had taken had proven quite helpful. He had even gotten to laugh in the so-called President's face, a privilege few men had ever gotten away with. Most importantly, he had found this. Another bunker, not too far away relatively speaking, one with far more industrial equipment and supplies than any other in the database. The perfect target. The geniuses inside were also a resource, one well worth the six months it took to cross the bulk of Canada from Alaska to Maine. The only reason the trip hadn't taken years was the dissolution of the radioactive clouds part of the way through.

He would take the bunker and its occupants. The scientists could be put to work refitting their equipment to produce weapons, practical supplies. From there he'd go after other targets, bouncing from place to place, gaining in power with every step. This, in his mind, was World War four. Also known as Panze's conquering of the world, whatever was left of it.

Taking a quick look out the window, Panze sighed. The weather was cold and miserable, a grey day threatening even more snow. But they were almost there.

A distant noise brought him fully to alert, staring carefully out the front window now. That had been an explosion. And, as he listened, there were more. And more. About a dozen, give or take. A few miles away, by his guess. He relaxed slightly. Too far to be a threat.

The driver of the foremost truck, a bald man with a jitter, was far less composed. "What was that?" His face twisted in fear. "Ya don't think it's that _thing_ , do ya?"

Panze snorted, looking over at the driver, his face troubled. "Why would it be?"

That strange attack the night they took the bunker was a sore point among the mercenaries. No amount of discipline stopped the fear, the rumors, the talk of what had struck at them and disappeared for no apparent reason. He personally had seen the tablet and heard the message. So he knew what they were called, and that was it.

But he pushed that thought aside. "Anyway, that's ridiculous. We were attacked in Alaska, idiot. Whatever it was, it didn't just go to Maine and wait for us. We didn't even know we were going here back then. So shut up and drive." He was still getting used to commanding them. Going from just a slightly important lackey to the leader was a rough transition. The few men he had picked up along the way, the tougher civilians wandering the roads in search of anything to do were the easiest to command, because he hadn't known them before.

"What if it followed us?" The driver wasn't content. "It can fly."

"We would have seen it." Panze was going to continue, but something stopped him, something coming into view as they drove. "Stop the truck."

"You told me to drive a second ago, why-"

Panze hit the driver with the butt of a pistol, an audible crack resounding through the truck's cabin. "Look at the road! Stop!"

The driver cringed, slamming on the brakes while rubbing his shoulder. "I was gonna."

Panze ignored the muttering of the driver, instead opting to open the door and drop to the ground, pistols at the ready. Taking a few steps forward, he examined the destruction.

And destruction it was. The gravel road was pretty much gone for several hundred feet, disappearing into massive circular blast holes, gravel strewn everywhere, most of it with a singed appearance. There was absolutely no way any vehicle was making it across that in one piece.

This situation was beginning to feel oddly familiar. Panze made the connection.

 _A man standing in front of the lead truck in a group of mercenaries, having stopped for something unexpected._

He had seen it before. Panze looked up. A grey sky, a flock of geese flying by far above, their black silhouettes in V formation as-

"Shit." He ran back to the trucks, slamming his hand along the sides of each as he passed. "Get out! Out! Air strike!" Once he had passed the last truck, he immediately veered into the woods, not stopping until he was several hundred feet in, the trucks barely visible. He tried to look at the sky again, but the trees blocked any clear view.

Men were pouring out of the trucks, confused but acting on that clear order. Air strike contingencies meant spreading out and getting away from obvious targets.

But that horrible piercing whine that had preceded the last such event, the one he had instantly assumed was going to happen, was not present. Maybe those odd black silhouettes, though most definitely not geese, weren't-

Every single truck in the convoy exploded simultaneously. The noise momentarily deafened Panze, who dropped to the ground in reflex. Nine trucks, gone in an instant. If he hadn't been so proactive, acting solely on instinct, that would have been their entire group gone.

As it was, he knew that less than half of his men had gotten far enough away in time. A single strike had decimated them.

The forest was still, silent save for a few crackling fires. He stood warily, looking around. Nothing.

A scream pierced the silence along with a gunshot, the scream quickly cut off.

A few moments later, a far more powerful explosion sounded, too strong to have come from any gun.

Silence reigned once more. Snow had begun to fall.

Panze slowly turned in a circle, his heart racing. They were being hunted, that much was clear. Then he heard a slight scuffle of hard material on bark. He whirled, looking up into the trees. Nothing.

He was not like the true Panze, who had a habit of losing his temper in situations like this. But being hunted was unnerving in the extreme. Running was a terrible idea, but he couldn't shoot what he couldn't see!

A soft growl caused him to spin around again. There it was, right in front of him. He fired.

The creature literally spit his bullet out of the air, a tiny explosion going off where the bullet had been as a blue fireball intercepted it mid-air. Another tiny fireball destroyed his pistol and burned his hand. He dropped to the ground, burying his burned hand in the snow. There was silence once more. The thing was right there.

* * *

Trudy moved silently, jumping from tree to tree. The ground would betray her. It was betraying the mercenaries. She could hear them moving, talking, swearing softly. There were two, by her guess, below her somewhere. These massive pines interspersed throughout the forest made excellent cover. But moving like this, jumping from tree to tree, was extremely tiring. It was almost sunset. They had all been up all day, flying, running, fishing. No one was at their best. It would have to be enough.

She located the mercenaries. Two men armed with rifles, back to back. She grinned. Even after an aerial strike, they still didn't think to look up.

Dropping on top of them was risky in the extreme, and fire needed to be conserved for harder targets, the inevitable encounters with mercenaries who knew where to shoot, who knew to look up. So, this had to be done carefully.

But maybe not done alone. Another pine in the distance was shaking, a Fury clinging to the top. She waved it over. The Fury glided the rest of the way, landing in a nearby oak, high above the oblivious mercenaries.

Iris nodded at Trudy. "Plan?"

Trudy grinned. "Each of us drops to one side, meet in the middle."

Iris nodded again in confirmation. Trudy watched as she took position.

Then they both dropped like stones, front paws outstretched, wings folded in. The sounds of twin impacts crushing snow were quickly followed by two screams and a gunshot, and then silence.

Trudy shook her head, a strange cloud forming at the edges of her vision. She dropped the disembodied... no, best not to dwell on that. There had been no time to aim for a quick death, instead just tearing forward blindly.

Iris whined. "You're bleeding!"

Trudy looked down. "Oh." That would explain the faint pain she felt. Pawing at the dripping hole in her chest didn't seem to remove the blood. "It's just a scratch, I guess. It doesn't really hurt."

Iris's expression changed to something undecipherable. She moved over to Trudy.

Trudy blinked. When had she laid down? She flapped a sprawled wing weakly, crunching the snow. A strange cloud was still settling over the area, blurring everything. "Iris?"

There were blue flames coming from Iris's nostrils now, the dragon in question sadly pawing at Trudy's head. "It's okay."

Trudy was gasping now, for some reason, air not coming so easily. The fog was getting thicker. But she could see something moving in the fog. Something with a human silhouette. She managed to force out a warning. "Behind you."

* * *

Iris whirled and blasted, a massively overpowered fireball completely incinerating a mercenary with a shotgun. He had been trying to get closer, to make sure it was a killing shot. She looked down, still crying in that strange way Night Furies did. A killing shot. "You did well."

Trudy smiled up at her, the light in her eyes slowly fading, her breath coming more and more irregularly. "You're glowing. Like Toothless. It's amazing..." A moment later, the life faded from her light brown eyes entirely, and one last shuddering breath was heard.

Iris lowered her head. "Farewell." That bullet wound had gone straight through the unlucky dragon's chest, and from what Iris could remember, right towards where the heart was. A lucky shot taken a moment before oblivion by one of the two mercenaries. Trudy was gone.

But this fight wasn't over. She forced herself to remain alert, scanning the area. There would be time to mourn her friend later. First, she had to make sure there was a later. They had counted how many mercenaries made it away from the trucks before the blast, and they weren't going to stop until they were all dead. That had been a given. No quarter would be received from the mercenaries, so no quarter could be given.

The last words of Trudy chose that moment to register in Iris's mind. Glowing? She looked back and saw that her spines were indeed glowing a neon blue.

But it hadn't been enough to save Trudy. Hopefully, it wouldn't give her away. Or run its course before this fight was over.

* * *

Throughout the forest on either side of the road, gunshots could be heard, along with screams and the occasional explosion. The snow was falling lightly but steadily now, doing its best to counter the death and destruction occurring below. The light was fading, the sun setting behind the smothering blanket of cold grey clouds. There would be no sunset. Just a simple fade to black.

* * *

Hiccup spit two tiny fireballs, both directly at the pistol pointed at him. The first intercepted a bullet, and the second ensured the gun wouldn't fire again. He glared at the mercenary he had disarmed, who had immediately planted his hand in the snow, groaning in pain. "You brought this upon yourself."

His tablet was on. He had turned it on before revealing himself, because this man was the one who had warned everyone else. The one who had made sure this entire encounter wasn't just a simple bombing run, but instead a dangerous hunt in the forest. The one who, in all likelihood, had brought the mercenaries here in the first place. He had an air of command, alerting everyone without hesitation.

The one he wanted to talk to before he killed him. And that end wasn't in question for Hiccup. Revenge was not a priority for him, but this man wasn't going to be allowed to continue threatening others.

"You brought this upon yourself." The tablet droned, splitting the silence.

The man looked up, his eyes pained and angry. "Says the one who attacked unprovoked."

"Unprovoked. You aim to take a place we have sworn to protect." Hiccup growled. "And you killed our friends. I only hope they killed as many of you as possible before the end."

The mercenary squinted. "I think I'd remember killing something like you."

"The bunker. The five scientists inside. Remember them?"

"No, honestly. They were all dead by the time I went inside." The mercenary laughed hollowly. "Along with twenty-six of our own. So wish granted." His eyes flicked to the side, before returning to Hiccup, seemingly hopeless. "What are you, really?"

"A person. An inventor, a strategist. A husband, now. A brother. A father, someday." Hiccup met the man's eyes. "Not what you want to hear. But the truth. I'm no different from most people in anything but appearance. None of us are."

"And yet your 'people' are hunting mine." The mercenary scooted back slightly, wincing as he removed his burned hand from the snow. "Like animals, if I had to guess. Stalking, pouncing, tearing them apart?"

"Yes. It is a deliberate strategy. We will not lose our lives needlessly." Hiccup took a step forward. "And though I am a firm believer in the ability of anyone to change for the better, I'm not going to risk it this time. I have far, far too much to protect." He snorted. "You are more of a monster than any of us. One who kills for money, profit."

"Not going to argue that." The mercenary grinned. "There are two kinds of people in this world. The weak, and the strong. I'm one of the latter." His face darkened. "And despite everything, you're the former. Because you're hesitating. End it already!" That was shouted with a grin.

Hiccup put a few subtle clues together. The mercenary had glanced to the side. Had scooted back. Had relaxed a tiny bit. Was shouting. To 'end it'. He spun. To see another mercenary with a very long and powerful-looking gun pointed right at him. Pulling the trigger.

A black blur darted out from the trees, landing in between Hiccup and the shooter, glowing neon blue.

A single gunshot cracked the air, followed by a snarl and fireball. The shooter was gone.

Abdul turned to face Hiccup, warbling sadly. "You should keep to your beliefs." He shot another fireball at the mercenary sprawled in the snow before anyone could react, obliterating him. "Treat Iris well. I would have been fine being the odd Fury out, because the only one I liked was already taken. She chose you, not me. I don't resent you for it."

Hiccup eyed him cautiously. "Why are you talking like that?"

Abdul nodded to his own side. "I've already taken a few bullets today."

Hiccup barked in shock as he saw several holes near Abdul's back, one very close to the base of the neck. "Are you-"

"No." He grimaced, shaking his head. "I'm not." He looked at his glowing spines, several of which were oddly pale, translucent but not quite illuminated. "This ability, whatever it is... I think it's the only thing keeping me going. And I'm pretty sure when it wears off..."

Hiccup whined, catching the inevitable conclusion. "You can't be sure. It might not be fatal."

"I can feel it." Abdul grimaced, turning away. "Come on. I can at least be a shield until it wears off." He began awkwardly loping into the forest, his hind paw and tail... trailing behind him lifelessly.

Now that Hiccup noticed, Abdul's glowing spines abruptly cut off past a certain point, going dark, and his breathing was labored, if energetic. He really was dying. Something important had been hit. Probably multiple important things, and they had no way to remove bullets lodged in deep, or cure infection. Abdul truly was doomed, whether or not the power leaving him would be the end.

"Come on!" Abdul sounded almost desperate. "Help me make this as useful as possible! It's not like I have a choice!"

Hiccup followed sadly, acknowledging Abdul's decision. To use these last moments as selflessly as possible. To hopefully save lives, take out as many mercenaries as possible.

Besides, Hiccup realized grimly, Abdul didn't have to fear bullets anymore. He was already going to die.

* * *

Jarrel and Xander tore through the forest, chasing two hapless mercenaries. The idiots had wasted all of their ammunition firing blindly into the trees, but both of the pursuing Furies were out of shots, having engaged several more dangerous targets already.

Xander panted, lagging slightly behind. They were both tired, and he had taken a bullet to the paw, slowing him down. The pain had faded slightly, and adrenaline helped him ignore what remained, but he was still a bit slower than he should have been.

Jarrel roared as he pounced, finally catching one of the two.

His roar cut off as the mercenary raised a pistol to rest under his neck. He froze, his paw raised, a claw hovering inches above the man's neck.

The mercenary, however, didn't pull the trigger. "Please. I only joined them last week. I just wanted somewhere safe to go. We can just go our separate ways." His hand was shaking, the gun only held steady by the pressure on Jarrel's neck.

Jarrel didn't know if this particular mercenary was telling the truth. Or if the gun was loaded. But he wasn't a cold-hearted killer. Not by nature. He stepped off of the mercenary, watching Xander run by, still going after the other.

The mercenary stood, his entire body shaking. Jarrel shook his head, growling and eyeing the gun.

It was dropped to the snow immediately. The man raised his hands, backing away slowly. "I just want to leave. To go... anywhere but here." He started awkwardly running backward, not looking where he was going, seemingly unwilling to take his eyes off of Jarrel.

Jarrel winced as the man ran back into a hanging oak branch, knocking himself out and falling face-first into the snow. He considered what the man had said… and left him there, crushing the gun as he went.

Jarrel never even saw the sharpshooter who had seen the whole encounter. A true mercenary, one who killed without hesitation. The darkness claimed him without a single warning.

* * *

But the sharpshooter never saw Xander, who was running full speed towards him, having ended the one he was chasing. The sharpshooter had climbed down from his perch to inspect his kill and was standing over Jarrel's body. "What are you?"

He received as much warning of his impending demise as his victim had. None.

* * *

Hiccup stood over Abdul, watching sadly. "You spent your life well."

Abdul nodded from where he had sprawled, having finally taken one bullet too many, even with the power that was now fading from him. "I count three lives saved. And ten mercenaries down. Is that right..?"

"Yes." Hiccup looked around, making sure they were safe for the moment. "You will be remembered. I'll make sure of it." The geneticist had been a constant presence throughout this entire new life. A friend, ally, trusted counselor to both Iris and himself. Even if Abdul had harbored feelings for Iris, Hiccup couldn't find it within himself to resent the man. If anything, Abdul would be right to resent him. But apparently, he didn't. "Why don't you hate me?"

Abdul laughed, his breath slowing. "Because you so clearly didn't even try to win her over, it just happened. And she never looked at me as more than a friend anyway. So when she found you, at least you made her happy." He coughed. "And now she won't be heartbroken. So it all worked out."

Hiccup snorted. "She still will be. We'll all mourn you." He sighed, seeing the light gone from Abdul's eyes. "Goodbye, friend." Abdul had been a friend. And, Hiccup realized as he carefully shut Abdul's sightless eyes, this was the first time he was mourning the death of a friend. Despite everyone who he had lost to time. Who, really, had lost him. It wasn't fitting to mourn them, because he had died. Not them. So that made Abdul the first.

He sat there a few moments. Then he rose with a heavy heart. Night had fallen. The snow was falling faster now. By morning, all the traces of the events of this day would be covered in white, obscured. Just lumps in the forest, and old metal wrecks by a bunch of holes in a road. He rose into the air, flapping lethargically, being sure to take note of where Abdul's body lay in the forest. After a few moments he roared, as loudly and as powerfully as he could. Three times, spaced out carefully. That was the signal to regroup. It was time to find out how things had gone. The horribly painful worry in his chest was like a physical thing as he waited in the air, praying that Furies would rise to meet him. That Iris would. It was impossible to find anyone in those woods. So he really didn't know what the result of all of this was.

A response echoed from the woods, as a Fury flew up towards him. And another. And more still. Hiccup's heart rose a little with every roar. It leaped back to where it was supposed to be at the sight of two vibrant purple eyes.

* * *

Toothless was beside himself in worry, and Skyler wasn't much better. They both were awake, waiting. Listening for more faint sounds, be they gunshots or plasma blasts. Anything was better than this horrible limbo of not knowing.

Toothless had switched places with Skyler, keeping the egg warm while she lay in the entrance, watching the sky. It was his last-ditch attempt to stick to his decision. He knew the plan had called for a regrouping once dark had fully fallen. That had been about half an hour ago. They would be returning very soon. Or never.

So when Skyler called out in an excited voice, "Toothless, I see someone!" He was still worried.

How many had made it back? But he couldn't check. "Go, please."

Skyler nodded seriously. "I'll come back and tell you who... I'll be back in a second." She took off. Toothless waited what felt like an eternity. It felt almost wrong to be warming an egg full of new life while wondering which, if any, of his friends was no longer living. But he definitely couldn't help it.

He felt like collapsing in relief when Skyler returned, followed by Hiccup and Iris. She spoke sadly. "Abdul, Jarrel, and Trudy are gone. Xander took a bullet to the paw that might mean he won't really be able to use that paw very well in the future, according to Silvia. But other than that, everyone else is okay. Nothing that won't heal in time."

Toothless felt terrible. "I should-"

Hiccup cut him off. "No, you did the right thing. Those deaths are in no way your fault, for somehow not saving them." He smiled sadly. turning to face the crowd of tired dragons Toothless realized had gathered outside their cave. "We won. There was a cost, a steep one. But that doesn't mean it wasn't worth paying. Those mercenaries were trouble, and they would have exacted a much higher price in the future if we had let them take the bunker. Because they wouldn't have stopped. Abdul, Trudy, and Jarrel made sure the price was three instead of hundreds. And we were all willing to take the risk."

Iris stepped forward, her legs shaky. "Trudy died fighting. She warned me about a threat behind me even as she went. There was no regret there for her."

Xander spoke up sadly. "Jarrel saved my life, taking out the mercenary who shot my paw before he could shoot again."

Hiccup chuffed, adding his piece. "Abdul took a few bullets, and then he saved my life. He kept going, despite the lethal wounds he had acquired. That glow, the one Toothless showed us? It kept him going. But he didn't use that extra time to mourn, to complain, to bemoan his fate. He just kept going, saving as many of us as he could."

"Iris was glowing too." That was Winston.

Iris stepped forward, slowly meeting the eyes of everyone in turn. "We will mourn them. But we will also remember them. Not those last moments. The people they were." She looked over at Toothless. "I don't know what the dragon way of handling the fallen is."

Toothless snorted from the cave. "Don't bother asking. They didn't. The fallen were left behind. I always hated that."

Iris continued, her voice sorrowful but firm. "So we will honor them in our own way. Our fallen will not be left to rot or be forgotten." She walked over to the center of the valley. "Here, we will place a boulder. And on the side, we'll write their names and how they fell. What they were like, what they fought for. A three-sided boulder, one side for each of them. Anyone can contribute to the memorial. If you have something to share about them, do it. When we're done, we'll carry it to that road, and leave it there. Let all who pass know of what occurred."

Hiccup smiled. "We should do two boulders. One for the road, and one for here. Leave the other in the middle of the valley."

"Yes." Iris smiled at the group. "But that can wait. Taking their bodies to be buried somewhere is also going to have to wait because we're all exhausted, and many of us are hurt. Get some sleep. The battle is over."


	23. Epilogue

_**Author's Note:**_ **This epilogue will push the story overall past 10,000 views. For a shorter story, that's not bad at all.**

"This is..." Hiccup paused, confused for a second. "Well, not Berk. Definitely not Berk." He snorted. "What was this place called? Acadia something? But that was the name for this entire forest. This valley, the place we live... let's just call it the nest. The dragon's nest."

He shifted, carefully settling down in a slightly different position. "This is the nest. It's in a valley in the middle of a big forest, a couple of miles from the coast. It's got a big stream running through it, and most of the caves have running water. We have fishing, hunting, and the most amazing view for when the seasons change." He sighed. "And every dragon in the world lives here. Which isn't saying much, honestly. It would be a lot more impressive if there were a lot of us. But there aren't. Not right now. Eventually, that will change. You'll be part of that change."

He looked down at the egg he was carefully keeping warm. "I wonder what you'll be like. What we'll call you." They didn't know if it would be a boy or a girl, and both he and Iris wanted to wait and see what the little Fury was like before naming him or her.

A scuffling sound outside caught his attention. He purred, knowing what it was. "I hear a strange noise. Could I be hearing things?" He held in a laugh as the noise stopped. "It sounded almost like a hatchling trying to climb onto the ledge over the cave entrance. But I'm sure that isn't it."

After a moment, a small head appeared upside-down and stared at him with bright teal eyes from the aforementioned ledge. "Uncle Hiccup, you're no fun."

He laughed at that. "Believe me, if I had pretended to not notice you, you'd get pretty bored. I can't leave the cave until Iris gets back, and that might not be for a while." His mate was out stretching her wings, and he hoped she took all the time she needed. "So you'd just be waiting for nothing."

The hatchling dropped to the ground, oversized wings softening the impact dramatically. It was comparable to a leaf drifting in the wind, how comically slow those wings made descent for the small and as of now quite light dragon. The hatchling trotted over, pausing to take a drink from the stone channel running against the wall. Its head was just small enough to make that possible.

Hiccup sighed, playfully pawing at the little dragon as it approached. "You know you're going to be too big to do that soon, right?" Toothless and Skyler's first-laid had hatched less than two months ago, after six months in an egg, and had learned the language so fast it boggled everyone's minds. They assumed talking to the egg definitely helped, but for all they knew, maybe Night Fury hatchlings were that fast regardless. It might never be proven because Hiccup and Iris weren't taking the chance, and no one else would either, in all likelihood. Either way, the little dragon's vocabulary had grown even faster than its body, which while increasing dramatically in size was still quite small at the moment.

"Hopefully." The little dragon, who Toothless and Skyler had decided to call Bella, bobbed her head as she walked, trying to get a good look at the egg he was warming under his chest and between his front paws. "Is it going to hatch today?"

He shook his head, knowing this routine far too well. "No, probably not. But soon."

"I want someone my size to play with." Bella rumbled, a strange and almost high-pitched sound coming from such a small dragon. "Everyone else is so big."

"Soon, I said." Hiccup smiled, setting his head down so that Bella could look at him without craning her neck. "Is that why you're here?" It was odd to see Bella without Toothless or Skyler around. They were both fiercely protective of her, though that was starting to soften as it became apparent that everyone in the valley adored her. There was still the possibility of accidents though, so protectiveness wasn't a bad trait at all.

"Mom went to get food, and dad had to talk to Ms. Sarah."

Hiccup smiled at the blending of cultures in that statement. A dragon hatched and raised, but still using some words that definitely hadn't existed back when Toothless was hatched. Human words, like 'mom,' 'dad,' and 'Ms.'

Bella rubbed her forehead on his paw, purring. "So I came over here."

"Do either of them know where you went?"

Bella looked confused, tilting her head for a moment. "No?" She shook her oversized head, earflaps flailing. "I don't think so."

Hiccup snorted, nudging her. "You can always play over here, but they'll be worried. You should have told someone first. I would take you home, but I can't leave. So stay here until they come looking."

Bella considered him. And stepped a few feet away. "But you can't stop me from leaving..." Her voice was considering.

Hiccup smiled slyly, seeing a shadow approaching outside the cave entrance. "I don't have to." He raised his voice. "Hello, Skyler!"

Bella jumped and hurtled back to hide behind him. She might act rebellious when her parents weren't around, but being caught in the act wasn't so fun for her. Though Skyler and Toothless never did worse than scold. Hiccup was pretty sure they both secretly approved of their daughter's independence, even when it was frustrating. "Don't tell mom I'm here!"

Hiccup purred, seeing Iris walk in. "It's Iris. I was joking." He had caught her distinctive scent a moment before speaking.

Iris perked her ears. "Are you talking to yourself or the egg?"

"Neither." Hiccup swept Bella out with his tail, revealing her. "Can you take her back to Toothless, or Skyler if she's back? No one knows she's here."

Iris nodded. "I just saw Skyler a few minutes ago. If we hurry, we can get you back before she gets here."

Bella immediately jumped onto Iris's front paw, holding on with all four legs and tail. "Run!"

Iris played along, setting off, careful not to dislodge her hitchhiker. "Hold on!" She cast Hiccup an amused look as they left the cave at a trot.

"And that was Bella, your..." He trailed off for a moment. "Cousin, I guess. Not that it matters that much for us." The plan, to keep having more children for as long as possible, would ensure Bella had literally dozens of possible partners in the future. She would not be short on choices. There were several other eggs even now preparing to provide her with playmates. This one was just the furthest along.

He laughed, his thoughts returning to the egg. "You'll get to meet everyone. I'm the one with a hole in my ear." That had never gone away, and it gave him a distinctively battle-scarred look, he was told. Especially when the light shone through the hole from behind. "Iris has amazing purple eyes. Toothless is like me but with no holes in his ears. And Skyler has sky-blue eyes. And so on. Everyone is different." He wondered what color eyes his son or daughter would have. Green, purple, or something entirely different? Bella had ended up with teal eyes, and no one could say if that was coincidence or not.

Iris returned, her expression happy if a bit exasperated. "Skyler says thank you to both of us for watching Bella. Apparently, Toothless sent her over here."

Hiccup groaned. "She said no one knew. I thought they would be looking for her."

"Well, no harm done." Iris stood in front of him. "Do you want to switch out, or..?"

He waved a paw at her. "Go talk to people. You spend too much time in here."

She ignored him, sitting down across from him. "Or I could just spend some time with you."

"Well, I won't protest if you do." he purred. "Is anything interesting going on out there today?"

"Yes, actually." She nosed the egg, looking up at him. "Sarah was on patrol. She saw something. From what Toothless said, I think the rocket is going to launch today."

Hiccup felt his ears shoot up of their own accord. "Really? Today?" It was finally happening. Not that it affected them at all personally, but it was still the reason they had settled here, had ever come out this far and found the valley. To make sure this rocket was completed and launched without interference.

"Today," Iris confirmed, setting her head down in front of the egg, between his paws. "Are you still sure you don't want me to take over?"

Hiccup laughed. "Yes. I don't need to see the launch. We'll probably feel and hear it from here."

"And I'll stay with you." Iris had settled down entirely now. "The egg is going to hatch any day now. It might be today."

"Or it might be next week." Hiccup nudged her. "Are you sure you want to give up the chance to get around, talk to people?"

Iris snorted. "As if you wouldn't jump at any suggestion that I want to stretch my legs. I'm not giving up some one-time offer here." She nuzzled his neck. "You're too eager to help for that to be the case."

"Fair enough."

* * *

An hour later, Toothless came by, as was habit. "How are you today?"

"Good." Iris purred at him. "And you?"

"Bella was climbing on the memorial rock again. I had to scold her. But that's something we can't let happen. It might damage it." Toothless looked down.

"It might. But it's going to fade eventually." Iris spoke neutrally. "You should explain to her what it is. Maybe then she wouldn't want to climb on it."

Hiccup thought about that. The rock probably looked quite enticing to the little Fury. There were what to her probably looked like perfect ledges and claw-holds everywhere. In reality, those were memorials to Abdul, Trudy, and Jarrel, painstakingly carved into the rock by claw. Quotes, descriptions, farewells from the other Furies, and his contribution, simple drawings of each one, doing something they had loved. Two drawings each. One of the human, and one the dragon, as he remembered them. It was a memorial, but a happy one. Definitely something that Bella shouldn't be scratching up.

"I don't know. She's really young." Toothless seemed uncertain, visibly wavering. "She might be too little to understand."

"Maybe just tell her that the rock is special and that it makes everyone sad when she climbs on it." Hiccup was pretty sure that would dissuade Bella better than warning her off. The little Fury was surprisingly empathetic, especially for one so young. She had actually cried, not in fear but in sympathy, when she first noticed his ear. Which had very much confused both him and Toothless, until she explained in the simple terms that were all she knew at the time.

Toothless slapped himself in the forehead with his tail. "I should have thought of that."

Iris nudged Hiccup. "Getting some practice in?"

"Hey, might as well. And I expect him to return the favor." Hiccup smirked at Toothless. "We'll be coming to you for advice too. Better get ready for that."

"I look forward to that day."

Toothless stayed for a while, and left once Skyler came in to get him, the two and their hatchling apparently going for a walk.

* * *

The day passed, but at some point around noon, the telling rumbles of the rocket were both heard and felt, vibrating until Hiccup was pretty sure he could feel the sound in his bones. He wrapped himself around the egg protectively, hoping that the sound wouldn't hurt it. "It's the rocket launching." He explained, more for the egg's possible benefit. "Humans leaving for another planet. Their children will come back someday because this planet is so much better. Home. And our people will be waiting for them, happy to live in harmony."

Iris purred, sticking her head outside the cave to watch. "There it goes."

"What does it look like?"

"A big white stick on top of a cloud of smoke. Not at all impressive to watch." Iris spoke sarcastically, making fun of the incredibly complicated piece of technology that was the rocket.

"Until you remember what it is, and where it's going." Hiccup spoke softly. "The furthest anyone has ever gone."

"Do you wish you could go?" Iris knew of Hiccup's past as an explorer. This was pretty much the pinnacle of that.

"Not at all. I don't want to go anywhere." Hiccup laughed. "This is home." Not just this place. This time. Home is where the heart is, and his heart was firmly planted right here.

His family was here. His family of dragons, Night Furies. He himself was no longer human. This was not how he had been expecting his life to go. But he couldn't be happier with it.

As for the humans... there was no way to know. There certainly weren't any around here. That rocket contained the only humans he knew for sure still lived on the planet. They might have been the last ones, given the dangerous nature of much of the world now. If so...

"There were humans when I was a boy. What happened to them and where they went, only a few know. Our story changed the world forever."

One day, they would come back. He or his descendants would be here to greet them. "We were humans, for that matter. At least, most of us." He considered that. "I can't say that being human was better than this, even back on Berk. But I can't say it was bad either. Our species aren't better or worse than each other. Just different."

Hopefully future generations would understand that. Maybe he'd even be around to repeat the lesson when the time came.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ **And thus ends** _ **Starting Anew**_ **. It was always my intention to end it here, with this situation and the launch of the rocket. Humans gone, dying out, or just barely getting by, at least on Earth, Furies beginning a new civilization. What will the future hold in this world? I've left that intentionally open, at a place where the possibilities are widely varied. This story always was, in essence, a beginning. What it brings about is left open to the imagination. Next, I'll answer the (hopefully) inevitable question.**

 **Sequels? I have had a few ideas, but they do not call to me as strongly as many other projects on my ideas list, so they may be a while in coming. Rest assured though, if I come up with a good plot for one of them (I actually have extremely vague outlines in my head for three different and unrelated continuations of this story, not just one), it will eventually be written for the same reason this story was. I wanted it out of my head and solidified.**

 **What I can with more certainty promise is a short prequel of sorts, showing the days immediately before Hiccup and Toothless are frozen, and all that came after. I intend to answer plenty of lingering questions, including what happened to the dragons, how Berk and its occupants coped with the loss of their leaders, and other such little details. By the nature of the circumstances, it will probably be labeled as tragedy, but we know what really happens in the future, so it will not be quite as bad as it could be. Still, it won't be happy, and won't have a happy ending in and of itself. Only taken in the larger context of the universe. As for when that will be finished? It's eight chapters, and I've finished two already. Any time now, but probably within two months. (I don't want to rush it).**

 **And finally, a big thanks to my beta reader,** _ **toothlessgolfer**_ **, for helping ensure this story was worth reading. Also, I'd like to thank a few specific readers, you know who you are, for your insightful questions into some of the more complex aspects of this story. Your questions directly affected certain not-insignificant parts of the story simply by being asked.**


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